Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Abilene, Texas 79601
Sunday, March 29, 2009 18:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Following the post-flight inspection of a repositioning flight, the pilot noted a crack in the trailing edge of the rotor blade. He had characterized the previous flight as turbulent, but otherwise unremarkable and without any mechanical anomalies. An examination of the main rotor blade revealed a path of interconnected porosity between the lower trailing edge skin, trailing edge strip, and epoxy that allowed for the introduction of moisture and resultant corrosion. The failure was due to insufficient squeeze-out of the epoxy layer between the lower skin and the trailing edge strip during manufacture. The corrosion pit allowed the formation of a fatigue crack with a resultant crack along the blade surface.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The formation and propagation of a fatigue crack in the trailing edge of the main rotor blade due to interconnected porosity and resultant corrosion. The area of interconnected porosity was due to a manufacturing defect which was not detected during the manufacturing process.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/29/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1820 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Abilene |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79601 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1652 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 21 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 31 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| 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) | 26473 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 6 2010 3:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N708M |
| NTSB Number | CEN09IA234 |
| 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 | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51186 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 3 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8188 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR EVAC EMS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 306 DAVIS DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST PLAINS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 65775-2279 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIR EVAC EMS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 306 DAVIS DR |
| Operator City | WEST PLAINS |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 65775-2279 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KLBB |
| Departure City | Lubbock |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1706 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Abilene |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 14 2009 7:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kaij |
| 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 | -- |