Pilot Debrief

BELL TEXTRON CANADA LTD 505 near Fort Myers, FL — 2022-10-08

Final reportERA23LA011
Sign in to save
Date
2022-10-08
Location
Fort Myers, FL, USA
Aircraft
BELL TEXTRON CANADA LTD 505
Registration
N5DF
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot’s execution of a landing approach with a right, quartering tailwind, low forward airspeed, and high power demand that, when combined, resulted in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness and helicopter control.

NTSB narrative

The pilot, who owned the helicopter, was proceeding to a landing zone to drop off passengers. As he initiated his approach, the prevailing wind was a right, quartering tailwind. His approach was near vertical, with no forward airspeed. The helicopter began to rotate to the right, then the rotation accelerated, and the pilot was unable to maintain helicopter control. The helicopter impacted the ground and came to rest on its left side, and the pilot and all three passengers were seriously injured. The main rotor struck a reinforced concrete light pole during the impact sequence, and the main rotor hub and blades separated from the main rotor mast. This resulted in an engine overspeed and blade shedding of the free turbine blades, by design, to prevent rupture of the free turbine disk. Postaccident examination of the airframe, engine, digital engine control unit, and data from integrated avionics revealed no evidence of a preexisting mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. Recorded data revealed that during the approach, engine power demand exceeded engine power available, resulting in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE), after which the pilot was unable to recover control of the helicopter.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted the landing earlier to avoid loss of control.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Video
  • Photos
  • 21 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents21

Related mishaps