Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Salinas Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Salinas, California 93905
Monday, July 21, 2008 12:07 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the approach to land, the pilot reported that he brought the helicopter to an 8- to 10-foot hover when the nose broke to the right and the helicopter started an uncommanded right spin. The pilot's attempt to correct with full left pedal failed to stop the spin. The pilot then initiated a hovering autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing and minor damage to the landing skids. The postaccident airframe inspection revealed that the threaded portion of the rear of the forward directional control cable of the no tail rotor (NOTAR) had separated. The forward directional control cable and the rotating cone control rod of the NOTAR, as well as associated hardware, were sent to an NTSB specialist for a detailed examination. The examination of the cable and associated hardware revealed that the cable had failed in fatigue due to the misplacement of the lock washer that was located between the cable's telescopic part and the rotating cone control rod.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to maintain directional control due to the fatigue failure of the threaded portion of the forward directional control cable as a result of the improper installation a lock washer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 7/21/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1207 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Salinas |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93905 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363946N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213622W |
| Event Location Airport | Salinas Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SNS |
| 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 | 85 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 85 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 26352 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 21 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2009 2:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SJC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N902CS |
| NTSB Number | LAX08IA241 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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 | MD Helicopters Inc |
| Aircraft Model | MD 902 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 900-00123 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 11 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 55 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | California Shock Trauma Air Rescue |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | McClellan |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95652 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | California Shock Trauma Air Rescue |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | McClellan |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95652 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RMC |
| Departure City | San Jose |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SNS |
| Destination City | Salinas |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2009 1:18PM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |