ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 216520
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| Date: | Wednesday 11 May 2005 |
| Time: | 09:45 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 |
| Owner/operator: | Helimark LLC, dba Silver State Helicopters |
| Registration: | N144SM |
| MSN: | 1098 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2001 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1601 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-540-F1B5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Gustine Airport, Gustine, Merced County, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Gustine Airport, Gustine, California (FAA LID: 3O1) |
| Los Banos Municipal Airport, Los Banos, California (LSN/KLSN) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
On May 11, 2005, at 09:45 PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), a Robinson R44, N144SM, experienced a loss of directional control during takeoff, and impacted the runway coming to rest on its left side at Gustine Airport (FAA LID: 3O1), Gustine, California. Helimark LLC, d/b/a Silver State Helicopters, operated the helicopter under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as an instructional flight. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local area instructional flight that departed Los Banos Municipal Airport (LSN), Los Banos, California, about 09:30 PDT.
In a written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board, the CFI stated that both he and the student conducted the preflight inspection at Los Banos prior to departing for Gustine, and found no mechanical anomalies. They flew to Gustine, landed, and then performed "two normal patterns with normal approaches, still uneventful." After that, they performed two normal patterns with practice autorotations at the end of each pattern." At that point they decided to return to Los Banos for additional training.
The CFI reported that a normal takeoff profile was initiated from runway 36. About 8-10 feet above ground level, the CFI heard a clicking noise in the helicopter and decided to make a precautionary landing to find the source of the clicking noise. However, the helicopter began a gentle roll to the right. The CFI tried to apply left cyclic to stop the roll but realized he had no directional control of the helicopter. The helicopter veered off the right side of the runway, at a 10-degree bank angle. The right skid contacted the ground and the helicopter rolled over coming to rest on its left side.
The engine continued to run after the helicopter came to a rest, so he pulled the mixture to shutdown the engine. Both the CFI and the student exited the helicopter through the pilot side door. Police and fire crews were alerted by airport personnel and arrived shortly thereafter to secure the scene. After the accident site was secured, the CFI located a bolt lying on the runway. He then inspected the helicopter and found that a bolt was missing from the connection between the left cyclic push-pull tube and the non-rotating swashplate.
An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) walked the runway area and found a nut that was consistent with the nut used in the connection between the left cyclic push-pull tube and the non-rotating swashplate.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The improper installation of the nut/bolt assembly connecting the left cyclic push-pull tube to the non-rotating swashplate by maintenance personnel, which led to a loss of roll control during takeoff.
Additional: Robinson R44 N144SM first flew July 18 2001, and was presumably repaired after the above accident, as the registration was cancelled by the FAA on November 24 2008 as "sold to Brazil". It was re-registered in Brazil as PR-HOD (see link #6)
Accident investigation:
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|
Sources:
1. NTSB Accident Number: LAX05LA164 at https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20050525X00675&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=LA
2. FAA: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=144SM
3. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=837
4. http://www.autorotate.org/Portals/0/magazines/2005/2005%20-%20issue3/mayjun2005.pdf (page 21)
5. http://robinsonhelicopters.org/wp/forums/topic/ntsb-results-on-silver-state-crash/
6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasflnspotting/10393567266/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustine_Airport
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Banos_Municipal_Airport
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Oct-2018 22:37 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 21-Oct-2018 22:38 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Departure airport] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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