Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 14:31 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a 1.5-hour flight, while hover taxiing, the pilot initiated a turn to the left when the helicopter pitched up and rolled left, striking the main rotor blades against the ground and eventually coming to rest on its left side. The Puerto Rico Port Authority then moved the helicopter and cleaned up all of the scattered helicopter parts and debris prior to the arrival of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and without any photo documentation of the wreckage. The FAA inspector subsequently took photographs of the wreckage that included the forward left cyclic servo control (push-pull) tube attachment point on the non-rotating swashplate. The control tube was not attached and the swashplate attachment ear had no corresponding attachment hardware. In addition, the control tube rod end was separated from the top of the tube in overload. A search of the wreckage and the crash site by the FAA inspector did not produce the rod end, nor did a subsequent court-ordered search. A detailed examination of the helicopter revealed that the interior bore of the left lateral servo attachment ear had multiple scoring and impact marks consistent with the dimensions and spacing of the attachment bolt threads. The marks also indicated that the rod end attachment bolt had been forcibly pivoted while backing out of the hole, which likely occurred because the retaining nut was missing. During the helicopter's most recent annual inspection the left lateral servo was removed and replaced; however, neither the inspection nor the replacement of the servo required disconnection of the upper servo control tube rod end from the swashplate attachment ear. The pilot's operating handbook required the pilot to ensure that the flight control rod ends were "free without looseness," and that all fasteners were "tight" during preflight inspections. However, it is unknown whether the retaining nut was missing before the flight or if it came off in flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The detachment of the forward left servo control tube upper rod end attachment bolt during a hover due to separation of its retaining nut for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/12/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1431 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | San Juan |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00936 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 182714N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0660532W |
| Event Location Airport | Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TJIG |
| 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 | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JSJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3200 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27246 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 28 2010 6:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N452JM |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA051 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0898 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 17 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 498 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | D&O AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | I CAPITAL CENTER BLDG STE 501 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN JUAN |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | D&O AVIATION INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | I CAPITAL CENTER BLDG STE 501 |
| Operator City | SAN JUAN |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TIST |
| Departure City | St. Thomas |
| Departure State | VI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TJIG |
| Destination City | San Juan |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 25 2010 11:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 5317 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |