ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 238208
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| Date: | Friday 17 July 2020 |
| Time: | 08:54 |
| Type: | Hiller UH-12DT Soloy |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N2297W |
| MSN: | 1206 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1960 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 4243 hours |
| Engine model: | Rolls Royce 250-C20B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Mehama, OR -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Brooks Airport, OR (OR38) |
| Mehama, OR | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On July 17, 2020, about 0854 Pacific daylight time, a Hiller UH-12D helicopter, N2297W, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Mehama, Oregon. The pilot was fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight.
The pilot was performing an aerial application flight. No radar information was available for the flight. The support truck operator reported that the helicopter departed from the truck and flew toward a field. Shortly after the helicopter departed, the truck operator heard the pilot report over the radio that he was “going down.” A witness reported that the engine noise changed pitch and became loud before impact. A postcrash fire ensued.
The helicopter struck several large trees and came to rest inverted at the base of a large tree. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. However, the tail rotor assembly was found fractured and separated from the tailboom with parts scattered in the initial part of the debris field. One tail rotor blade remained secured at the hub, and the other blade was fractured and separated.
The tension-torsion straps for that blade extended outward from the hub and were fractured and splayed. Metallurgical examination revealed that 10 of the 11 straps fractured from fatigue cracking followed by overstress. The fatigue cracking initiated at multiple locations along the bores in contact with the cylindrical plain bearing. Wear, in the form of smearing, gouging, spalling, and galling of the faying surfaces, led to the fatigue crack initiation. The fatigue cracks then propagated perpendicular to the area with the highest tensile stresses and at the thinnest locations along the bearing bore. No indications of corrosion were observed. Thus, the tail rotor blade separated during flight due to fatigue cracking and overstress.
According to the component replacement schedule, the tension-torsion strap bundles are to be replaced every 12,500 flight hours and were set to be removed in 1,383.3 flight hours from the time of the accident.
Probable Cause: An in-flight separation of a tail rotor blade due to fatigue cracking and overstress, which resulted in a loss of directional control and subsequent ground impact.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://ktvz.com/news/accidents-crashes/2020/07/17/salem-man-killed-in-helicopter-crash/
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/07/at-least-1-dead-in-marion-county-helicopter-crash-deputies-say.html
NTSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 7 December 1993 | N2297W | Industrial Aviation, Inc. | 0 | Sublimity, OR | |
sub |
Location
Images:
Photos: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Jul-2020 21:38 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 18-Jul-2020 01:08 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Location, Narrative] |
| 18-Jul-2020 15:26 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Jul-2020 16:10 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-Mar-2021 21:09 | rudy | Updated [[Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative]] |
| 07-May-2021 19:33 | harro | Updated [[[Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative]]] |
| 08-Sep-2022 11:23 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, Accident report, Photo] |
| 08-Sep-2022 11:24 | Captain Adam | Updated [Photo] |
| 22-Jun-2023 18:06 | harro | Updated [[Photo]] |
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