Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wellington Aero Club Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Palm Beach, Florida 33414
Saturday, October 25, 2014 12:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 25, 2014, about 1240 eastern daylight time, a Bell 206B, N418SV, operated by Helix Helicopters, exhibited substantial damage after landing uneventfully at Wellington Aero Club (FD38), West Palm Beach, Florida. The commercial pilot and four passengers were not injured. The local personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed FD38 about 1130.
The owner/pilot stated that she took some friends on a pleasure sightseeing flight. After landing the helicopter on a dolly and disembarking the passengers, she observed a large crack on the underside of the passenger side skid. Further examination of the helicopter by a mechanic revealed the following additional damage: impact damage between the main driveshaft and transmission isolation mount; a cracked support at the left forward engine mount; a cracked starter generator mount bracket; and a cracked main rotor yoke. The damage was consistent with a recent hard landing.
The owner/pilot stated that there were no hard landings during the sightseeing flight, which was corroborated by one of the passengers. The owner/pilot added that 2 days prior to the damage being observed, two instructional flights were conducted by another pilot/flight instructor at Palm Coast, Florida. Following those instructional flights, the owner/pilot repositioned the helicopter to FD38 and did not notice any damage. She further stated that the helicopter was not flown between the repositioning flight and the sightseeing flight.
According to the flight instructor and two pilots receiving instruction, no hard landings occurred during the two instructional flights. Additionally, during a postflight inspection following the first flight, oil was observed around the tailrotor gearbox as the tailrotor gearbox cap had separated. The tailrotor gearbox was then serviced with oil and the tailrotor gearbox cap was secured. A preflight and postflight inspection during the second flight did not reveal any other anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/25/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Palm Beach |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33414 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263848N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801742W |
| Event Location Airport | Wellington Aero Club |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FD38 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 20 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 15 2014 2:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N418SV |
| NTSB Number | ERA15LA060 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2399 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 7 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 5085 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HELIX HOLDINGS CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WELLINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 334148350 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HELIX HELICOPTERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WELLINGTON |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 334148350 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FD38 |
| Departure City | West Palm Beach |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FD38 |
| Destination City | West Palm Beach |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 15 2014 2:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |