ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 178937
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| Date: | Saturday 22 August 2015 |
| Time: | 17:42 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 II |
| Owner/operator: | Perfect Filler Llc |
| Registration: | N445HS |
| MSN: | 13312 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2012 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 340 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near County Rd 157, north of Gibbons Creek Lake, Grimes County, Texas -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Bryan, TX (CFD) |
| Bryan, TX (CFD) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial pilot was conducting the flight behind another helicopter in order to film the passengers on board the lead helicopter hunting wild hog. At the filming location, the accident pilot initially established a hover about 400 ft above ground level (agl). After the lead pilot radioed to the accident pilot that he was flying too high, the accident pilot descended to about 200 ft agl, which was 100 ft above the lead helicopter. The accident pilot made a right pedal turn away from a headwind of 20 knots in an attempt to keep the lead helicopter in sight. The accident helicopter subsequently entered a right descending spin, which the pilot was unable to arrest. The helicopter subsequently impacted trees, which damaged the main rotor, tail rotor, and fuselage.
Examination of the helicopter revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The helicopter was operating in a high-power, low airspeed condition that required the pilot to be especially aware of wind direction to avoid tailwinds, which can result in a loss of control due to a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. The combination of an out-of-ground-effect hover and the pilot’s subsequent turn away from the headwind toward a tailwind of about 20 knots resulted in the loss of tail rotor effectiveness.
The flight was the accident pilot’s first commercial operation and also the first flight that required him to maintain a hover while close to another helicopter. Neither the accident pilot nor the lead pilot was aware of the helicopter manufacturer’s safety notice regarding photo flights, which recommended that pilots flying such operations should have a higher level of experience than the accident pilot had. The lead pilot, who was more experienced, reported that he was concerned about the accident pilot’s inexperience relative to the challenging flight but chose to continue with the flight because he wanted to capture the film footage.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s improper decision to turn the helicopter toward a tailwind during an out-of-ground-effect hover, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. Contributing to the accident was the accident and lead pilots’ inadequate preflight risk management.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=445HS
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Aug-2015 16:58 | rgferrell | Added |
| 23-Aug-2015 17:00 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn] |
| 23-Aug-2015 21:27 | Geno | Updated [Location, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 25-Jun-2016 16:30 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 01-Dec-2017 15:08 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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