Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fresno Chandler Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fresno, California 93706
Tuesady, December 4, 2007 14:55 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Just as the helicopter touched down while performing a hovering autorotation, the certified flight instructor (CFI) heard a loud 'snap’ coming from the right side. The CFI took the controls from the student and attempted to neutralize the anti-torque pedals, but reported that they were stuck in place, with the right pedal in the forward position. He reduced the engine rpm’s to 75 percent, and attempted to move the pedals to no avail. At that point, he instructed the student to start the shutdown procedures. Following a normal shutdown, they exited the helicopter, and began to inspect the cause of the stuck anti-torque pedal. Both the CFI and student observed a broken metal structure adjacent to the restraining block that retains the anti-torque pedals. The CFI reported that it appeared to be the actual metal structure that the entire pedal assembly bolts to. The helicopter inspection revealed that the right-hand support bracket (part number A359-2) of the tail rotor control system had failed. The operator reported that the airframe had a total time of 13,000 hours. The helicopter manufacturer reported that they had been aware of other failed support brackets on helicopters with over 7,500 hours in service. As a result, the manufacturer increased the thickness of the support bracket material, and changed their overhaul procedures requiring replacement of the A359-1 and -2 support brackets at overhaul for all R22 and R44 models. The manufacturer also issued service bulletin (SB) SB-97 for the R22 and SB-63 for the R44, which require the addition of a safety tab on the older thinner support brackets.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the tail rotor system support bracket during landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/4/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1455 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Fresno |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93706 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364356N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1194913W |
| Event Location Airport | Fresno Chandler Executive |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FCH |
| 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 | 1453 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 62 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 336 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24427 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 4 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2008 3:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FAT-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N805EH |
| NTSB Number | LAX08IA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1907 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 13078 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Golden Eagle Enterprises, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4885 E. Shields Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fresno |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93726 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Golden Eagle Enterprises, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4885 E. Shields Avenue |
| Operator City | Fresno |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93726 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FAT |
| Departure City | Fresno |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1405 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FAT |
| Destination City | Fresno |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2008 3:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |