Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bulverde, Texas 78163
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 12:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to the flight, the flight instructor refueled the helicopter, and the student pilot performed a pre-flight inspection of the helicopter. The instructor and student then departed and were practicing autorotations when the helicopter yawed left and right. The instructor initiated an autorotation to an orchard. The helicopter impacted the ground and trees before coming to rest on its left side. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the left fuel tank’s gas cap was missing. A search in the direction of the helicopter’s flight path located a piece of tail rotor blade and the fuel cap, which had separated into two pieces. Additionally, the fuel cap’s gasket was missing. It could not be determined if the gasket was on the fuel cap before the cap separated from the helicopter. The impact marks on the fuel cap and tail rotor blade piece were consistent with the fuel cap coming into contact with the tail rotor blade.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight separation of the fuel cap, which impacted the helicopter’s tail rotor and resulted in the loss of tail rotor thrust. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate preflight inspection by both pilots, who did not ensure that the fuel cap was securely tightened before flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Bulverde |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78163 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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) | 30035 |
| 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 | Aug 2 2012 6:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N112HE |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA226 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1112 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 29 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6925 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HELIFLIGHT LEASING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 29640 BULVERDE LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | BULVERDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78163-2040 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HELIFLIGHT LEASING LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 29640 BULVERDE LN |
| Operator City | BULVERDE |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78163-2040 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 1K8 |
| Departure City | Bulverde Airprk |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 1K8 |
| Destination City | Bulverde Airprk |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2011 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| 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 | -- |