Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Galveston, Texas 77554
Saturday, October 6, 2007 8:01 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that as the helicopter was accelerating through 40 to 50 knots in a slight climb, while still only about 200 feet away from the departed offshore platform, he felt and heard a "loud bang" as the tail of the helicopter yawed to the right. He added that the helicopter started to descend and he made a mayday call as he prepared for the water landing. The helicopter touched down in a nose high attitude, and the tail rotor system was reported to have contacted the water. The emergency flotation system deployed successfully and the helicopter and the passengers reported that the helicopter made a smooth water landing. A detailed follow-up engine examination was conducted at the operator's maintenance facilities. The investigation concluded that there was no evidence of distress or failure observed on any of the components of the compressor, engine gearbox, or turbine assemblies that might have accounted for the loud bang reported by the pilot and the passengers during the accident sequence. Additionally, no unresolved engine-related discrepancies were found in the examined aircraft or engine records. The operator reported that a section of a tail rotor blade was found on a beach miles from the site. The blade was verified to be from the accident helicopter. The portion of the tail rotor blade was forwarded to a lab, where further examination revealed marks on the leading edge of the blade. The marks extended approximately thirteen inches from the tip of the blade and appeared to be evenly spaced. The fracture appeared to be the result of overload. The transferred material was confirmed not to be from any part of the helicopter. The analysis of the material revealed that it was possibly the metal bindings of a notebook. The suspected 3-ring binder was not located and none of the 3 occupants of the helicopter reported losing a 3-ring binder. The manager of the offshore helideck reported that there were no lose objects of any type at the helideck and FOD sweeps are made on a routine basis. The source of the missing binder could not be established.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of tail rotor control during initial takeoff climb due to the fracture of a tail rotor blade as result of impact with a foreign object.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/6/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 801 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Galveston |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77554 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 291031N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0913719W |
| 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 | 752 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGLS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KGLS 061252Z 00000KT 10SM FEW022 BKN029 27/24 A299 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24830 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center FTW |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 6 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 23 2008 1:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3899C |
| NTSB Number | DFW08IA002 |
| 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 | BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45596 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 4 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 17783 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR LOGISTICS LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4605 INDUSTRIAL DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW IBERIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70560-9124 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air Logistics LLC, a Bristow Company |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4605 Industrial Dr. |
| Operator City | New Iberia |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70560 |
| Operator Code | ALGA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Galveston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | HI-138 |
| Destination State | GM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 9 2011 11:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |