ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 45518
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| Date: | Friday 21 June 2002 |
| Time: | 05:15 |
| Type: |  Bell UH-1H Iroquois |
| Owner/operator: | Northwest Helicopters |
| Registration: | N114DR |
| MSN: | 66-792 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1967 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 13852 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming T-53 L-13 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Clark Fork , ID -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | External load operation |
| Departure airport: | Clark Fork, ID |
| Clark Fork, ID | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On June 21, 2002, approximately 0515 Pacific daylight time, a Garlick UH-1H (originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter) restricted-category rotorcraft, N114DR, sustained substantial damage after colliding with wooded terrain approximately four miles southeast of Clark Fork, Idaho. The helicopter is owned by Northwest Helicopters of Olympia, Washington, and was being operated as an external-load (logging) flight operation under the provisions of Title 14, CFR Part 133. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant of the helicopter, was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no FAA flight plan had been filed for the local flight.
The commercial pilot was conducting long-line logging operations in a restricted category helicopter when witnesses heard what they described as a loud bang. A witness reported that the pilot had just released the fifth load of logs for the morning and was maneuvering, in a turn, and ascending up the hill. As the helicopter ascended, the witness heard the loud bang. Concurrent with the loud bang, the witness stated that he observed pieces of the helicopter, from the area of the tail boom, flying through the air. The helicopter then yawed to the left, just before impacting terrain in a nose low attitude. A search of the surrounding area located several pieces of the tail rotor assembly. The tail rotor blades, yoke assembly, pitch change links, a portion of the slider, crosshead and the distal end of the control shaft were located, as a unit, near the main wreckage. However, the splined barrel portion of the slider, the tail rotor static stop, tail rotor input shaft and tail rotor retaining nut were not found. Detailed examination of the remains of the tail rotor slider assembly revealed that the tail rotor slider lugs had fractured as a result of fatigue; however, because the condition of the missing components is unknown, it could not be determined if the fractured slider assembly was the primary failure of the tail rotor assembly.
Probable Cause: A failure of unknown origin in the tail rotor drive assembly. Factors include mountainous terrain unsuitable for an emergency landing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20020626X00978&key=1
Location
Images:
Photos: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 09-Dec-2017 16:48 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Jan-2024 22:52 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, Photo] |
| 08-Jan-2024 22:53 | Captain Adam | Updated [Photo] |
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