Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Corvallis Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Corvallis, Oregon 97333
Tuesady, April 7, 2009 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and certified flight instructor departed for a local area instructional flight during which the pilot practiced a series of takeoffs and landings. During ground operations, the crew stated that they felt an unusual vibration, which was partially mitigated by keeping the collective pitch raised about 2 inches from the full down position. The pilot reported that he decided to adjust his seat position so he landed and handed off the controls to the certified flight instructor (CFI). The CFI lowered the collective to the full down position in preparation for the seat adjustment operation. At this time he noticed a vibration, which was followed by a loud "bang." The subsequent helicopter examination revealed that two of the six main rotor blades had diverged from their normal plane of rotation and impacted the tail rotor drive system, resulting in the number 5 and 6 tail rotor drive shaft sections separating from the helicopter. The investigation and examination of the helicopter found that during maintenance performed at an undetermined date by the operator's mechanics, the bell cranks that connect to the main rotor blades' control rods had been incorrectly installed in a reversed manner. This allowed the swash plate to travel outside of its designed range.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper assembly of main rotor blade control components by the operator's maintenance personnel, which resulted in the main rotor blade's divergent path and their contact with the tail rotor drive shaft during ground operation following landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Corvallis |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97333 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 442950N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1231722W |
| Event Location Airport | Corvallis Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CVO |
| 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 | 250 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CVO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 250 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KCVO 072155Z AUTO 12008KT 10SM CLR 19/09 A29 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26563 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NM FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 9 2010 2:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N719HT |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA184 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SIKORSKY |
| Aircraft Model | CH-54B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 69-18469 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 47000 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 1 |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 5365 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | U S LEASECO INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 701 WILSON POINT RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | BALTIMORE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21220 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Helicopter Transport Services, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5806 SW Plumley St. |
| Operator City | Corvallis |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97333 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Corvallis |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Corvallis |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2010 5:38PM |
| 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 | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |