# Incident 19971008041749I: Bell OH58A, Decatur, AL, October 8, 1997

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 8, 1997, 16:00 local time
- Place: Decatur, AL
- Airport: Pryor Field Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Pwr On Vertical Ldng/Rtrcrft
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 34.6541° N, 86.9454° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at PRYOR FLD RGNL (DCU), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.6541&lon=-86.9454&mi=10
- Aircraft: N158SA, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N158SA) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Bell OH-58A (registry code 1181579, https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-oh-58a) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BELL OH58A
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 6,100 total, 4,000 in this make and model, 300 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19971008041749I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: MR. ROY SUMJA MADE A HARD LANDING IN N158SA, A BELL 206 ON THE GRASS RUNWAY AT DECATUR, ALABAMA. THE TAIL ROTOR COUPLING BROKE AFTER A PRACTICE AUTOROTATION AND A HARD LANDING.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.