Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Decatur Muncipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Decatur, Texas 76234
Tuesady, June 17, 2014 15:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On June 17, 2014, about 1500 central daylight time, a Bell 206B helicopter, N536T, made a hard landing at the Decatur Municipal Airport (KLUD), Decatur, Texas. The flight instructor and pilot rated student received minor injuries, and the helicopter was substantially damaged. The helicopter was registered to MBM Aviation Consultants, Inc., and operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a training flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The flight originated from the Fort Worth Alliance airport (KAFW), Fort Worth, Texas.
The flight was planned as part of the agency's quarterly proficiency program for inspectors. The contract flight instructor, who was initially scheduled to fly, was not available to perform the flight. An FAA flight instructor was then scheduled, and flew in the morning with another FAA employee. The accident flight was the student's first flight with the FAA instructor, and the instructor's second flight of the day. The afternoon flight had a similar flight profile as the morning's and would typically last about 2.5 hours.
The instructor and student reported that they were about 2 hours into the flight, and had completed a series of maneuvers, which included straight-in and 180-degee auto rotations. To finish up the flight before proceeding back to Fort Worth, the instructor planned to demonstrate another 180-degree auto rotation. The instructor reported that he had plenty of altitude, so he made a slightly wider turn on to final approach; during the descent the main rotor was in the mid-to-low green rpm range. He added that he felt that there was some resistance in the throttle and he didn't get the power back in time. He then elected to level the helicopter, so the tail wouldn't hit first and roll the helicopter over. The pilot rated student, reported that on the last 180-degree auto rotation, the instructor was at the controls. He added that he became uneasy during the autorotation, and checked that the throttle was full-on (for a power recovery).
Examination of the runway revealed a scar consistent with the tail boom impacting the runway first. The helicopter came to rest upright partially off the runway, approximately 207 feet, from the first impact point. Numerous marks, consistent with the helicopter's landing skids were noted between the first scar and the helicopter. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the helicopter was sitting on its landing skids, but leaning to the left. The tail boom had separated just aft of the stabilizer, the tail rotor gear box was torn from the tail boom, and the helicopter's transmission was tilted aft and had broken free from the driveshaft. Both main rotor blades had impact damage, consistent with striking the tail boom and horizontal stabilizer.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/17/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Decatur |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76234 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331528N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0973452W |
| Event Location Airport | Decatur Muncipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KLUD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1041 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1515 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLUD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | -7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 19 2014 5:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N536T |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA296 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3195 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3201 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MBM AVIATION CONSULTANTS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 198081645 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Federal Aviation Administration |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fort Worth |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KAFW |
| Departure City | Fort Worth |
| 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 | KAFW |
| Destination City | Fort Worth |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 19 2014 3:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |