Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kahului Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kahului, Hawaii 96732
Friday, October 14, 2005 11:13 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was damaged during a hard landing following a loss of tail rotor control. The pilot was conducting a tour flight when tail rotor control was lost. He conducted an emergency landing and landed hard when the helicopter encountered a gust of wind. Examination of the tail rotor system revealed that the tail rotor control rod failed about 6.5 inches forward of its aft attach point, where the control rod attaches to the tail rotor pitch change bell crank. The control rod fractured perpendicular to its longitudinal axis and displayed a flat fracture surface. Metallurgical examination of the control rod fracture revealed that it failed as a result of fatigue cracking that propagated from the outside in. The crack origin could not be determined due to severe mechanical damage from relative movement between the fracture mating surfaces. Due to the damage, the size of the crack could not be determined, and therefore, an assessment of the crack's age could not be made. As a result, it was not possible to determine whether or not the crack would have been visible during the last inspection, which took place 91.2 hours prior to the accident. That inspection's checklist called for the removal and inspection of the tail rotor control rod.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue cracking and failure of the tail rotor control rod during cruise flight, which resulted in a hard landing during the precautionary landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/14/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1113 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Kahului |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96732 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 205355N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1562550W |
| Event Location Airport | Kahului |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OGG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1054 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OGG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21554 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 14 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Honolulu, HI |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N58267 |
| NTSB Number | LAX06IA011 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 390473D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 91.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 24575.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steven H. Alexander |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89117 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AlexAir |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 108 Kahului Heliport |
| Operator City | Kahului |
| Operator State | HI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 96732 |
| Operator Code | DNWA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OGG |
| Departure City | Kahului |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | OGG |
| Destination City | Kahului |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 17 2007 4:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |