Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Blair, Nebraska 68008
Thursday, June 23, 2011 12:55 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was conducting an aerial observation flight in a helicopter when he felt a high vibration in the tail rotor system in conjunction with a sharp jerk in the anti-torque pedals. The pilot autorotated to a wet field and the helicopter subsequently rolled over. A postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that a pitch link retaining bolt had come loose from the pitch link attachment horn. The bolt and its associated hardware separated in flight and the bolt hole where the pitch link attached was elongated. According to the helicopter’s preflight inspection checklist, the pitch link should have been checked before flight for binding or looseness; however, the pilot could not recall if he actually checked it. The helicopter underwent a 100-hour maintenance inspection two weeks before the accident. At that time, the maintenance manual required an inspection in which the pitch links would have to be disconnected then reassembled. Since the pitch link retaining bolt and its associated hardware were never recovered, it could not be determined if the pitch link assembly had been properly installed or torqued at the last inspection. The pitch link failure occurred about 14 hours after this inspection. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that they were not aware of any instances prior to this accident where the tail rotor pitch link assemblies became loose and failed prematurely after proper installation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of a tail rotor pitch change link due to the retaining bolt becoming separated in flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1255 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Blair |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68008 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413226N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0960824W |
| 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 | 1252 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 984 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| 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) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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) | 29622 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ACE 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 2012 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5694A |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA414 |
| 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 | ENSTROM |
| Aircraft Model | F-28C-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 491-2 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 9 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 3706 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | P AND N CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1710 MARION AIRPORT RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MARION |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 52302-9626 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | P AND N CORPORATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1710 MARION AIRPORT RD |
| Operator City | MARION |
| Operator State | IA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 52302-9626 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PMV |
| Departure City | Plattsmouth |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Blair |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 5 2012 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |