ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 286418
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| Date: | Friday 20 November 2009 |
| Time: | 10:20 LT |
| Type: |  Hughes 369E |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | N551CR |
| MSN: | 0534E |
| Year of manufacture: | 1996 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 11392 hours |
| Engine model: | Rolls Royce 250 C20B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Kahuku, Oahu, HI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Kahuku, HI (HI58) |
| Turtle Bay, HI (HI58) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter was positioned on a landing platform. Four passengers had boarded the helicopter for a sightseeing tour. The pilot brought the engine up to flight idle, preparing for takeoff, when the left rear landing skid strut collapsed. The helicopter tilted to the left rear, and the tail skid and vertical stabilizer struck the ground and sustained damage. The tail rotor blades also struck the ground. The pilot shut down the engine and stopped the rotor using the rotor brake. A postaccident examination of the left rear landing gear strut revealed that the strut fractured at the bolt hole where the strut was attached to the drag brace. The struts had been inspected 13 days (30.2 flight hours) prior to the accident as part of a 100-hour inspection in accordance with the manufacturer's maintenance inspection program. Examination of the broken strut (left rear) revealed that it fractured due to a fatigue crack that initiated from the circumference of one of the bolt holes used to secure the strut to the drag brace. The intact strut (right rear) was also examined and found to have fatigue cracks growing outwards from the circumference of the two bolt holes used to secure the strut to the drag brace. Additionally, the diameters of the bolt holes were larger than the maximum allowed as outlined in the maintenance manual. The right strut was installed on an exemplar airframe in order to determine if any play could be identified in the strut. The 100-hour landing gear inspection was performed and the strut exhibited play, which according to the manufacturer's maintenance manual requires removal and additional inspections.
Probable Cause: The fatigue failure of the landing gear strut and maintenance personnel's failure to perform an adequate inspection of the landing gear.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB WPR10LA060
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 13 April 1998 | N551CP | Columbus Division Of Police | 0 | Columbus, OH | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Oct-2022 10:31 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
| 12-Jun-2023 03:50 | Ron Averes | Updated |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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