Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lapaz Regional Hospital Helpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Parker, Arizona 85344
Tuesady, March 16, 2010 9:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the helicopter told the lead mechanic that the main rotor blade needed to be balanced. Two mechanics showed up on the morning of the accident and installed the balancing equipment. A test flight was flown. The two men performed the necessary work, which required a second adjustable wrench on the top of the rotor head to hold the bolt while the nut below was removed and later torqued back on. When the work was finished, the men gathered their tools. The pilot asked the lead mechanic if they had gathered all their tools and the mechanic replied "yes." The three men got on the helicopter for a test hover to check their work. As the main rotor speed reach 100 percent, the three occupants heard a "bang." As the helicopter hovered, the two mechanics thought the balancing equipment readings were worse than the first flight, and the vibrations in the aircraft had increased. The pilot landed the helicopter so that the mechanics could make additional adjustments. The mechanics discovered that they were missing the adjustable wrench that had been used on the top of the main rotor head. Postaccident examination revealed that one main rotor blade, the tail boom, and the lower vertical stabilizer had received damage from the unaccounted for wrench.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The mechanics' failure to account for all the tools following a maintenance procedure and the pilot's failure to perform a preflight check before a maintenance test flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Parker |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85344 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340812N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1141708W |
| Event Location Airport | Lapaz Regional Hospital Helpt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AZ47 |
| 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 | 450 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 952 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| 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) | 26837 |
| NTSB Notification Source | 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 | Apr 14 2010 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4282 |
| NTSB Number | WPR10CA164 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | AS 350 B3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4282 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4960 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 3 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 819 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CFS AIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10 RIVERVIEW DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | DANBURY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06810-6268 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Omniflight Helicopters inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Addison |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75001 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AZ47 |
| Departure City | Parker |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | AZ47 |
| Destination City | Parker |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2010 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |