Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rowley, Massachusetts 01969
Thursday, July 15, 2010 13:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was conducting an aerial application flight when the low rotor rpm audio warning sounded. The pilot elected to fly the helicopter for another 30 minutes to ensure normal operation. Shortly thereafter, about 200 feet above ground level and at 70 knots, the low rotor rpm audio warning sounded again. The pilot lowered the collective to restore rotor rpm, but engine and rotor speed accelerated through the upper limits. The pilot then reduced the throttle to idle and performed an autorotation. The helicopter landed hard into a salt marsh, buckling the tail boom. The pilot did not report any flight control anomalies with the helicopter.
A postaccident examination of the governor drive housing and driveshaft assemblies revealed that the inner and outer raceways were "frosted" in the ball tracks. Additionally, the ball tracks were offset from the center of the raceway in a manner consistent with a thrust load towards the driveshaft nut, relative to the drive housing. The ball track offset was not circumferentially uniform, suggesting that the bearing inner races were misaligned relative to the outer bearing races. In general, such misalignment typically results in excessive forces and subsequent fatigue failure of the ball separator. The failure of the drive bearings caused the power turbine governor to provide the incorrect signal to the main fuel control. A review of the engine records indicated that the last overhaul of the power turbine governor was at 1,942.9 hours time since new. The power turbine governor has accumulated an additional 1,590 hours time since overhaul. The power governor turbine time before overhaul (TBO) time is 2,000 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the power turbine governor internal driveshaft bearings, resulting in the failure of the governor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1358 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rowley |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01969 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 424614N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0705229W |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BVY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 107 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28826 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 24 2011 1:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N802JB |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA362 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GARLICK HELICOPTERS INC |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A+ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71-20851 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 8 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 7297 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HORIZON HELICOPTERS LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 720 CLOUGH MILL RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | PEMBROKE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03275-3814 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HORIZON HELICOPTERS LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 720 CLOUGH MILL RD |
| Operator City | PEMBROKE |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03275-3814 |
| Operator Code | FTYG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | 033E |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Newbury |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1342 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 2B2 |
| Destination City | Rowley |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 24 2011 1:50PM |
| 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 | -- |