Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rancho Murieta, California 95683
Thursday, November 10, 2005 13:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter landed hard following the in-flight separation of the tail rotor assembly. During cruise, the pilot felt a vibration in the anti-torque pedals and attempted to make a precautionary landing in an open field. The tail rotor assembly separated prior to the pilot reaching the landing spot and the helicopter started to rotate and landed hard. The helicopter bounced back into the air, struck the ground again with the transmission bending over the cockpit area. Examination of the tail rotor assembly revealed that one of the pitch change links bolts had separated with the shank portion broken from the threaded portion of the bolt. A metallurgical examination of the bolt revealed that the fracture surface of the shank portion had been subjected to reverse bending fatigue. The arced lines were symmetrical on each side of the shank that culminated in a thin, dark, hourglass-shaped region in the center of the two arced lines. Burnishing observed on the fracture was typical of failures in bolts that have not been properly preloaded.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a separation of the tail rotor assembly due to the reverse bending fatigue fracture of a tail rotor pitch change link bolt, resulting in a loss of control of the helicopter, and a hard landing during the uncontrolled descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/10/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Rancho Murieta |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95683 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 382416N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1210518W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| 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 | 1253 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 245 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 24 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 6 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21278 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 10 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2007 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16356 |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA030 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47D1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 536 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8076.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Quality Crafts LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 9761 Elder Creek Rd. |
| Operator City | Sacramento |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95829 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RIU |
| Departure City | Rancho Murieta |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RIU |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 17 2007 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |