Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Shady Cove, Oregon 97539
Sunday, October 7, 2012 15:13 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was in straight and level flight over mountainous, tree- covered terrain when he heard a loud noise followed by an abrupt jolt and right yaw. The pilot initiated a descent into a valley when he heard a second loud noise followed by severe vibrations and activation of the low rotor RPM horn. The helicopter continued to descend before it impacted the trees and ground below. During an on- scene examination, control continuity was established throughout the helicopter with the exception of the 90- degree gearbox and tail rotor assembly, which were separated from the helicopter and not found.
Postaccident examination and run of the helicopter's engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The gear box is positioned in between the tail rotor drive shaft and tail rotor assembly; it takes the input from the tail rotor drive shaft (through a quill assembly), and adjusts and transfers the energy to the tail rotor assembly. Because the gearbox and tail rotor separated in flight, the investigation was not able to examine them to determine their condition or their proper installation. However, During the postaccident examination of the airframe, the tail rotor gearbox input quill assembly, vertical driveshaft clamp, and two remaining gearbox attachment studs were removed for additional examination. Fatigue damage was noted along the fracture surface of the two gearbox attachment studs that were still attached to the vertical fin side of the mounting flange. The remaining four attachment holes were empty;, however, helical rubbing marks were found around their perimeter along with an adjacent lip of deformed material, which is indicative of the studs being present at one point. Postaccident examination and a test run of the helicopter's engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
The helicopter's most recent tail rotor gearbox inspection occurred about one month prior to the accident;, however, it was unable to bethe investigation could not determined if the fatigued area the fatigue was found was would have been included in the inspection, or whether any evidence of fatigue would have been detectable at the time of the inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the tail rotor gearbox and tail rotor assembly as a result of fatigue to the tail rotor gearbox input quill assembly attachment studs.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1513 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Shady Cove |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97539 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423408N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225304W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 181 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MFR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1335 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KMFR 072353Z 30004KT 10SM CLR 28/M03 A2985 |
| 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) | 33115 |
| 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 | Sep 10 2014 5:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lins-i |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1577 |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA006 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GARLICK HELICOPTERS INC |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 65-09577 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9500 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 31 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 6267 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCCARTY DAVID M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BAKER CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97814-8214 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MCCARTY DAVID M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BAKER CITY |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97814-8214 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | External Load |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Grants Pass |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Grants Pass |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 10 2014 6:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |