Pilot Debrief

BELL 206 near Thomaston, GA — 2015-09-20

Final reportERA15LA374
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Date
2015-09-20
Location
Thomaston, GA, USA
Aircraft
BELL 206
Registration
N165BH
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Maneuvering

Probable cause

The loss of tail rotor control due to a fractured pin in the tail rotor control system; the reason the pin fractured could not be determined as the fractured pin was lost in shipping.

NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot performed a right pedal turn to land the helicopter on a truck-mounted platform, and, just before touchdown, a pin that connected a push-pull tube to the left anti-torque pedal broke resulting in a loss of directional control. The pilot maneuvered the helicopter away from the truck to avoid striking his employees and tried unsuccessfully to land back on the truck's platform. He then repositioned away from the truck, closed the throttle, and lowered the collective to land, and the main rotor blades struck the side of the truck. Although this make and model of helicopter is typically flown from the right seat, the accident helicopter was equipped with a left-hand "command" kit, and the pilot was flying it from the left seat. In addition, the helicopter was equipped with a tail rotor pedal lockout kit, which was designed to disconnect and lockout the tail rotor pedals to prevent interference by a passenger seated in the copilot's seat, which was, in this helicopter, the right seat. Photographs of the tail rotor pedal assembly revealed that the left expandable pin, which was a part of the tail rotor pedal lockout kit, had fractured, which disconnected the left anti-torque pedal from the tail rotor control system. Fracture analysis could not be performed on the broken pin because the pin was lost in shipping. Therefore, the failure mode for the pin could not be determined; however, it is built to the same strength as the bolts that it is intended to replace.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have avoided using the lockout kit with the left-hand command kit.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

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