Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bath, New York 14810
Friday, August 31, 2012 10:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the accident helicopter was configured for single-pilot operation (the copilot controls had been removed for the assigned mission). While in cruise flight between 110 and 120 knots and about 2,500 feet mean sea level, the helicopter began pitching up and yawing right, because the force trim was the “off” position, which rendered the altitude hold feature inoperative, and the pilot responded by pushing the cyclic forward and left. The helicopter then pitched “severely” nose down and entered a right spin. At that time, the pilot saw a portion of the tail boom, tail rotor, and tail rotor gearbox falling away separately from the helicopter. The pilot entered an autorotation and landed in wooded terrain. About 1 year after the accident, another pilot for the operator performed a maintenance test flight in a similarly configured make and model helicopter. While in cruise flight and with the force trim in the “off” position, the pilot released the cyclic momentarily, and the helicopter pitched up and rolled right. The flight scenario was duplicated several times with the copilot controls installed on the helicopter and, when the pilot released the cyclic, it maintained its same relative position, even with the force trim in the “off” position. Therefore, it appears that aerodynamic forces drove the cyclic aft in the single-pilot configured helicopter because the added weight and lever arm in a dual-pilot configured helicopter was not available to neutralize the forces. The manufacturer should have known about this characteristic of the helicopter and warned pilots of unanticipated and unequal aft cyclic pressure in the single-pilot configured helicopter compared to the dual-pilot configured helicopter. Detailed examination and testing of the helicopter and its components revealed no preaccident anomalies and no evidence of foreign object damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper recovery from an in-flight upset, which resulted in the main rotor striking and separating the tail boom. Contributing to the accident was the helicopter manufacturer's failure to warn pilots of unanticipated and unequal aft cyclic pressure in the single-pilot configured helicopter compared to the dual-pilot configured helicopter, which resulted in the in-flight upset when the pilot momentarily let go of the cyclic control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bath |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14810 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422224N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0772101W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 1053 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 954 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| 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) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32637 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AEA 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 16 2014 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11SP |
| NTSB Number | ERA12TA538 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 407 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53530 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5250 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 6 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2918 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STATE OF NEW YORK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBANY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12226-1799 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | STATE OF NEW YORK |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | ALBANY |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 12226-1799 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GVQ |
| Departure City | Batavia |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GVQ |
| Destination City | Batavia |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 16 2014 12:12PM |
| 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 | -- |