ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 370395
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| Date: | Wednesday 30 July 2003 |
| Time: | 10:56 LT |
| Type: |  Bell 222 |
| Owner/operator: | California Shock-trauma Air Rescue |
| Registration: | N29KH |
| MSN: | 47053 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1981 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3890 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming LTS-101-750C1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | SALINAS, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Hollister, CA |
| Salinas Municipal Airport, CA (SNS/KSNS) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial helicopter pilot reported that while in cruise flight, the helicopter developed a severe vibration. The vibration was so extreme that he was not able to read any of his flight instruments. He declared an emergency, started a slow descent, and made a run-on landing to a dirt field. A post-incident inspection revealed that the right forward transmission lift link had failed at the lower rod end assembly. The failure point was in the threaded area of the rod end. The total time on the failed part (p/n 222-331-626-105) was 3,890.8 hours total time since new. The lift link assembly was the original part installed on the incident helicopter. The lift link assembly was shipped to the National Transportation Safety Board, Materials Laboratory and forwarded to Bell Helicopters for further analysis. It was determined that the link fracture was a result of fatigue in a thread root of the lower elastometric rod end bearing housing. No material discrepancies or deficiencies were found in the rod end bearing housing.
Probable Cause: The fatigue failure (fracture) of the right forward transmission lift link during cruise flight, which resulted in a severe vibration and an emergency landing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB LAX03IA252
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Mar-2024 10:14 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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