# Accident 20030512010529A: Hughes OH6A, Pantak, AZ, May 12, 2003

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: May 12, 2003, 11:55 local time
- Place: Pantak, AZ
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 32.0356° N, 111.5169° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.0356&lon=-111.5169&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6636H, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N6636H-2005-02-16) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Hughes OH-6A (registry code 4470905, https://openairdocs.org/model/hughes-oh-6a) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: HUGHES OH6A
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 3,500 total, 3,000 in this make and model, 0 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX03TA150](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX03TA150) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030512010529A

## Narrative

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

(-23) ON MAY 12, 2003, A HUGHES OH 6A, PUBLIC-USE HELICOPTER OPERATED BY THE U.S. BORDER PATROL COLLIDED WITH TERRAIN AND WAS DESTROYED. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT WHILE FLYING ABOUT 300 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL HE HEARD A LOUD BANG FOLLOWED BY THE HELICOPTER BECOMING UNCONTROLLABLE. THE TAIL ROTOR GEARBOX AND TAIL ROTOR BLADE ASSEMBLY WERE MISSING FROM THE WRECKAGE. DURING THE SEARCH FOR THE MISSING COMPONENTS, SEARCHERS FOUND A U.S. BORDER PATROL FLIGHT JACKET APPROXIMATELY 0.7 MILES WEST OF THE ACCIDENT SITE. THE FLIGHT JACKET HAD BEEN SHREDDED AND HAD THE SAME RED AND WHITE PAINT TRANSFERS AS THAT OF THE TAIL ROTOR BLADES.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB LAX03TA150](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX03TA150), May 12, 2003: Hughes OH 6A (N6636H), Pan Tak, AZ, destroyed. Probable cause: The pilot in command's failure to adequately secure loose cargo (a jacket), which resulted in the jacket colliding with the tail rotor during cruise flight, and the subsequent separation of the tail…

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.