Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Lafourche Leonard Miller Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Galliano, Louisiana 70354
Monday, March 2, 2009 7:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot was starting the single-engine helicopter's engine when he heard a loud bang and vibration. He immediately shut down the engine and exited the helicopter. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail rotor driveshaft and coupling had severed just forward of the gearbox, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom. The helicopter had undergone recent maintenance to the tail rotor gearbox input seal which included the removal of the tail rotor drive shaft from the coupling. When the two components were reattached, the mechanic only hand-tightened the bolts, figuring additional maintenance was still planned for the gearbox. He then installed the tail rotor drive shaft shaft cover. The mechanic moved on to another project and did not make a logbook entry of the work that he had completed or that the bolts were only hand-tightened. Another mechanic later performed additional maintenance to the gearbox, but the bolts were not checked since the maintenance manual did not require the removal of the tail rotor driveshaft cover. A .2-hour maintenance flight check was conducted and the helicopter was returned to service. The accident occurred on first engine start after it had been returned to service.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the tail rotor driveshaft and coupling during engine start due to the mechanic's failure to properly reattach the tail rotor driveshaft and coupling during maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/2/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 720 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Galliano |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70354 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 292616N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0901524W |
| Event Location Airport | South Lafourche Leonard Miller |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GAO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 600 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25494 |
| NTSB Notification Source | BTR FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 16 2010 12:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N410RL |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA198 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | L4 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4450 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 1 |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5118 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rotorcraft Leasing Company, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Broussard |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70518 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rotorcraft Leasing Company, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Broussard |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70518 |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GAO |
| Departure City | Galliano |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 720 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GAO |
| Destination City | Galliano |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 16 2010 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |