Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New Orleans, Louisiana 70062
Wednesday, September 7, 2005 18:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 514-hour commercial pilot was conducting a photo mission with three passengers onboard in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. While orbiting a neighborhood at an altitude of approximately 500 feet above ground level at 40 knots, the helicopter suddenly pitched-up and entered an uncommanded right spin. The pilot applied left anti-torque pedal, but there was no response. He then lowered the nose and followed the right turn. In an attempt to stop the rotation, the pilot lowered the collective and this appeared to help. But then the pilot saw a row of power lines in front of him, so he pulled back on the cyclic and up on the collective to clear them. The helicopter subsequently turned 180 degrees and impacted the roof of a house, where it came to rest. The pilot and the passengers reported that a military Black Hawk helicopter was hovering above them as they exited the helicopter, and assisted in their recovery. The operator was concerned that the Black Hawk's proximity to the helicopter may have caused excessive downwash, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. However, the pilot said that he had seen many military helicopters operating in the area and was unable to confirm that the Black Hawk had contributed to the accident and was unsure as to what caused the loss of tail rotor effectiveness.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control after encountering a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/7/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | New Orleans |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70062 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 295922N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0901528W |
| Event Location Airport | None |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19351 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 7 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | BTR FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N230CA |
| NTSB Number | DFW05LA239 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2779 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 58 |
| Airframe Hours | 3971 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Go Interests, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 22015 South Freeway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Manvel |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77578 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Helitrans Co. Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 22015 South Freeway |
| Operator City | Manvel |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77578 |
| Operator Code | OB0A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BTR |
| Departure City | Baton Rouge |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1645 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BTR |
| Destination City | Baton Rouge |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 21 2005 8:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |