Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Belle, Florida 32570
Thursday, October 15, 2009 17:51 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was conducting a flight at a low altitude and speed when he heard a light tapping sound followed by the low rotor rpm warning horn. He attempted to simultaneously initiate an autorotation and maintain forward speed to reach a clearing. The tail boom and tail rotor struck trees, and the pilot lost directional control of the helicopter. The helicopter touched down in the clearing, spun about 180 degrees to the right, and rolled onto its left side. A postaccident examination revealed that one of the rotor drive belts was separated and that each of the remaining three belts was frayed and partially displaced from at least one of its respective sheaves. According to a representative for the helicopter manufacturer, the fraying was typical of a drive belt that was displaced from the sheave while the engine was running. The fraying could be caused by the belt being too loose, by abrupt maneuvering of the helicopter, or by the helicopter striking the ground when the engine was running. The representative also stated that when a drive belt starts to fail, it tends to make a repetitive noise similar to that reported by the pilot, and that drive belt failure could result in low rotor rpm. The reason(s) for the drive belt failures could not be determined and maintenance records were not available during the investigation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of main rotor rpm due to the failure of one or more of the drive belts for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/15/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1751 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Belle |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32570 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 265017N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0813837W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RSW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| 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) | 260 |
| 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) | 29.83 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27758 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2011 7:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3038W |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA019 |
| 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 | ROBINSON |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1732 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 19 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 721 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAJ Investments Ltd |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Naples |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34103 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John Ward |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ft. Myers |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33905 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | La Belle |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | La Belle |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2010 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |