# Incident 20010503009309I: Bell 206B, Miami, FL, May 3, 2001

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: May 3, 2001, 07:30 local time
- Place: Miami, FL
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Other Ground Ops
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 25.7743° N, 80.1937° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Miami, FL, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=25.7743&lon=-80.1937&mi=10
- Aircraft: N261BH, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N261BH-2007-10-23) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Bell 206B (registry code 1181511, https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BELL 206B
- Reported engine: ALLSN 250C20B
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,500 total, 500 in this make and model, 20 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20010503009309I

## Narrative

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

(-23)THIS FLIGHT WAS BEING CONDUCTED VT THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR (DOI). THIS FLIGHT WAS A SPARROW NESTING SURVEY FLIGHT TO TRACK THE MIGRATION AND TYPE OF BIRDS FOUND IN THE EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK. THE FLIGHT OPERATIONS REQUIRED THE HELICOPTER TO LAND AT A PREDETERMINED LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE WITHIN THE EVERGLADE NATIONAL PARK, AND OFFLOAD 3 DOI EMPLOYEES.  THE HELICOPTER WOULD THEN DEPART THE AREA WHILE THE SURVEY WAS BEING CONDUCTED.  THE HELICOPTER WOULD THEN RETURN AND PICK UP THE 3 DOI EMPLOYEES TO MOVE ON TO ANOTHER PREDETERMINED LOCATION.  THE INCIDENT OF N261BH A BHT-206, HAPPENED DURING ITS SECOND LANDING, LOCATED AT 25 30.476/80 36.553 IN THE EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK.  THE HELICOPTER LANDED ON TOP OF CORAL ROCK  FORMATIONS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES.  THE HELICOPTER WAS EQUIPPED WITH WIDE TUNDRA PADS TO ALLOW BETTER FOOTING FOR THE HELICOPTER'S SKIDS.FROM PILOT STATEMENTS AND SITE PICTURES, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE CORAL ROCK FORMATION BROKE UNDER THE AFT LEFT TUNDRA PAD.  THIS CAUSED THE HELICOPTERS TAIL BOOM AND ROTOR TO TILT BACKWARDS AND THE NOSE OF THE HELICOPTER TO PITCH UP AND TO THE LEFT.  THE PILOT PUT CORRECTIVE CONTROL INPUTS TO LEVEL THE HELICOPTER . ONCE THE HELICOPTER WAS SITTING LEVEL AGAIN THE PILOT NOTICED A SLIGHT VIBRATION AND DECIDED TO TOLL OFF THE POWER.  AFTER POWER REDUCTION, THE HELICOPTER BEGAN  TO VIBRATE AND SHAKE SEVERLY, SO THE HELICOPTER WAS SHUT DOWN.  AN INSPECTION OF THE HELICOPTER SHOWED THAT THE ISOLATION MOUNT FOR THE TRANSMISSION WAS CONTACTED BY THE INPUT DRIVE SHAFT.  THIS CAUSED THE STRIKER PLATE TO CONTACT THE TRANMISSION WHICH BROKE ON OF THE STUDS ON THE STRIKER PLATE.  ALL DAMAGED PARTS WHERE REMOVED AND REPLACED FOR THE HELICOPTER.

## Other reports on N261BH (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20070911022369A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20070911022369A), Sep 11, 2007: Bell 206B (N261BH), Casey Key, FL, Destroyed, 2 fatal. (-23) On September 11, 2007, at approximately 1000 EDT, a Bell helicopter, model 206B, N261BH, serial #2817, was totally destroyed on impact to the surface of…

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.

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