ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226307
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 17 June 2019 |
| Time: | 18:50 LT |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 |
| Owner/operator: | Air Adventures Helicopters |
| Registration: | N1241W |
| MSN: | 2445 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2016 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1584 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-540-F1B5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | off Key West, Monroe County, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Key West International Airport, FL (EYW/KEYW) |
| Key West International Airport, FL (EYW/KEYW) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Shortly after departure, the pilot detected rapid vibrations from the tail of the helicopter. While returning to the airport, the mounting bolts that secured the tail rotor gearbox to the tail boom failed, which resulted in the separation of the tail rotor. The pilot lost yaw control of the helicopter, but successfully performed an autorotation to the water below.
A postaccident examination of the mounting hardware between the tail rotor gearbox input cartridge and the tail boom mating flange found that two of the four bolts were missing; both missing bolts came from the right side of the connection. The left side bolts remained secured in place. The missing bolts' holes in the input cartridge were deformed and were out of round. All of the 4 bolt holes on the input cartridge displayed imprints from the bolt threads, with the deepest imprints on the right sides of the holes, consistent with movement between the lug holes and the bolt shanks. All tail boom flange bolt holes were examined and found that the threading was present, not stripped, and locking inserts present.
About 60 hours before the accident, the tail boom assembly was removed and replaced. As part of this maintenance, the tail rotor input cartridge and gearbox would have been removed from the old tailboom and placed on the new tailboom. It is likely that, during this procedure, the right-side mounting bolts were not completely secured to the tail boom casting locking inserts and properly torqued, which resulted in the failure of the right side mounting bolts.
The helicopter was flown earlier that day without incident or indication of impending failure.
Probable Cause: The failure of maintenance personnel to properly secure the right-side tail boom mounting bolts which resulted in the failure of the bolts and an inflight separation of the tail rotor.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CEN19LA174
FAA register: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N1241W
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/r44-ditching-improper-mx/
Location
Media:
R44 Ditching at Key West 18 June 2019: follows apparent TR & TGB losshttps://t.co/91MRIPABpC pic.twitter.com/a3mpDwupcl
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) June 19, 2019
Helicopter makes emergency landing in ocean near Key West airport https://t.co/7wpxL9R6AT pic.twitter.com/IlOlAbTOmD
— WPBF 25 News (@WPBF25News) June 19, 2019
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Jun-2019 18:36 | gerard57 | Added |
| 18-Jun-2019 21:17 | Captain Adam | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 19-Jun-2019 21:47 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative] |
| 18-Jun-2022 09:15 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 18-Jun-2022 09:17 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 02-Jul-2022 08:36 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
| 09-Jul-2022 10:41 | Aerossurance | Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation