FAA incident report · Hughes 269C · Virginia Beach, VA · October 15, 1981
From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Tail rotor and transmission separated in flight. Gear box failed from overload, unable cause, due to missing rotor.
TAIL ROTOR AND TRANSMISSION SEPARATED IN FLIGHT. GEAR BOX FAILED FROM OVERLOAD, UNABLE CAUSE, DUE TO MISSING ROTOR.