19980130026289I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Bell 206L1 · Cabinda, AO · January 30, 1998

Date: January 30, 1998 · 08:40 local
Place: Cabinda, AO
Phase of flight: Hovering
Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator: HEEA
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N3904L
Reported as: Bell 206L1
People aboard: 5
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 14,188 total9,935 in this make and model221 in the last 90 days

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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

The pilot lost directional control of the helicopter during landing to an offshore platform. The pilot stated that he was transitioning to hover when he lost directional control. The pilot executed a successful autorotational landing to the deck of the platform without causing further damage to the helicopter. Subsequent examination revealed that the loss of directional control was caused by the failure of the bonded adapter on the no 5 tail rotor driveshaft engineering evaluation by the helicopter manufacturer revealed that the driveshaft had been previously subjected to some type of media blasting which may have led to the eventual disbonding of the tail rotor driveshaft adapter.

As the FAA filed it

THE PILOT LOST DIRECTIONAL CONTROL OF THE HELICOPTER DURING LANDING TO AN OFFSHORE PLATFORM. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE WAS TRANSITIONING TO HOVER WHEN HE LOST DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. THE PILOT EXECUTED A SUCCESSFUL AUTOROTATIONAL LANDING TO THE DECK OF THE PLATFORM WITHOUT CAUSING FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE HELICOPTER. SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE LOSS OF DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS CAUSED BY THE FAILURE OF THE BONDED ADAPTER ON THE NO 5 TAIL ROTOR DRIVESHAFT ENGINEERING EVALUATION BY THE HELICOPTER MANUFACTURER REVEALED THAT THE DRIVESHAFT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY SUBJECTED TO SOME TYPE OF MEDIA BLASTING WHICH MAY HAVE LED TO THE EVENTUAL DISBONDING OF THE TAIL ROTOR DRIVESHAFT ADAPTER.