Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Goshen, New York 10924
Monday, May 29, 2006 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 45 minutes into a cross-country flight, the helicopter experienced a hydraulic system failure. The pilot subsequently elected to perform a precautionary landing in a field. During the landing attempt, the pilot slowed the helicopter and it began to yaw left. The pilot attempted to correct the yaw, but was unable to overcome the "stiffness" of the right anti-torque pedal. The helicopter continued to yaw left, landed "hard," and rolled over. Examination of the helicopter's hydraulic system revealed that the hydraulic pump drive shaft splines and the attaching drive coupling splines were severely worn, to the point that they could no longer drive the hydraulic pump. Metallurgical hardness testing of both the drive shaft and the coupling revealed that the surfaces of the splines were below the manufacturer's specified hardness. Examination of the grease found trapped between the remaining portions of the hydraulic shaft pump splines revealed that it was hard packed and gray colored, suggesting that it had been in place for a significant period of time. The minimal amount of grease observed in the coupling sleeve did not satisfy the "generously filled" description referred to in the manufacturer's service bulletin, and required by a subsequent airworthiness directive. Examination of the helicopter's maintenance records revealed that since the issuance of the airworthiness directive, the helicopter had not been in compliance with either the calendar or flight time requirements. The helicopter's flight manual cautioned pilots operating the helicopter without hydraulic assistance, "Do not attempt to carry out hover flight or any low speed maneuver. The intensity and direction of the control feedback forces will change rapidly. This will result in excessive pilot workload, poor aircraft control, and possible loss of control."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper maintenance of the hydraulic pump/coupling, which resulted in a failure of the hydraulic flight control system. Factors included the substandard materials of the hydraulic pump drive shaft and coupling, and the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/29/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Goshen |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10924 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412227N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0742035W |
| 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 | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SWF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21645 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 30 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Teterboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-GGLM |
| NTSB Number | NYC06LA121 |
| 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 | Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | AS-350BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1306 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4630 |
| 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 | 6 |
| 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 | 31 |
| Airframe Hours | 6783 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Montel Equipment Minier Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2 Ch Bourgeois |
| Aircraft Owner City | Villemontel |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | J0Y2S0 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 19N |
| Departure City | Camden |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Glen Falls |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 27 2007 6:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| 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 | -- |