Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kahului Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kahului, Hawaii 96732
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 11:45 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight at 2,800 feet mean sea level (msl) approximately 100 knots airspeed, the pilot experienced an uncommanded left yaw. The pilot pressed each rotor pedal and "found they were not functioning." The pilot turned back to the airport and declared an emergency. The pilot attempted a run-on landing. During the landing, the helicopter "wanted to turn left as the airspeed slowed." Subsequently, the helicopter twice spun to the left and came to rest upright partially on the runway and adjacent grass. The loss of tail rotor control was due to the lower support yoke arm bushing being loose in the lower support yoke arm. During operation of the tail rotor controls, the looseness transferred the cyclic operational stresses, via the expansion pin assembly, to the upper support yoke arm, which failed in fatigue. Under continued operation, the pitch control input rod then translated upwards into the path of the rotating tail rotor gearbox input flange. The pitch control rod wore down until the input rod no longer transmitted operational forces and it separated with the sequential loss of tail rotor control. During a recent 500-hour inspection, a visual check on the expansible pin was performed; however, only one end of the expansion pin assembly appeared to have been visually checked. The manufacturer's maintenance manual does not specify how the installation check should be performed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of tail rotor control due to wear damage to the pitch control input rod that resulted ultimately in the fatigue failure of the upper support yoke arm. Contributing factors were the improper maintenance inspection of the expansion pin assembly and the loose bushing in the lower support yoke arm.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/28/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1145 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Kahului |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96732 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 205300N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1562500W |
| 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 | 54 |
| 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 | OGG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 54 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23753 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 28 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-HNL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4010K |
| NTSB Number | LAX07IA115 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | AS 350 BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2841 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 49 |
| Airframe Hours | 15794 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mauiscapes Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 415 Dairy Rd. Suite B |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kahului |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96732 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Kahalui |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | OGG |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2008 6:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 2 |
| Runway Length | 6995 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |