Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Caffery Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hiram, Georgia 30141
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 10:04 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that after engine start, the helicopter shook violently as the throttle was advanced to flight rpm. He conducted an emergency shutdown, inspected the helicopter, and discovered that the tail rotor boom was buckled. Further inspection revealed that the main rotor starflex arm was broken. According to the director of maintenance, the starflex arm was overlooked during a conformity inspection. As a result, it was overflown by 586 hours. A review of a manufacturer service bulletin revealed that the service life on the starflex arm was 2,200 hours. At the time of the accident, the total time on the starflex arm was 2,786 hours. Due to the operator's record keeping process, the complex component life limit historical records were overlooked.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the starflex arm during engine run-up due to inadequate inspection by maintenance personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1004 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hiram |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30141 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335228N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0844435W |
| Event Location Airport | Caffery Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 00GE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 957 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1252 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 134 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24327 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 26 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2008 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N417AE |
| NTSB Number | MIA08LA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter France |
| Aircraft Model | AS350 B2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 9032 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 2786 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GE Business Financial Services |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 44 Old Ridgebury Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Danbury |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | OMNIFLIGHT HELICOPTERS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 16415 Addison Road Suite, 400 |
| Operator City | Addison |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75001 |
| Operator Code | RMXA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 00GE |
| Departure City | Hiram |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1004 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 34GA |
| Destination City | AUSTELL |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - engine(s) operating |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 15 2008 9:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |