20060201000739I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Hiller UH-12E · Forks, WA · February 1, 2006

Date: February 1, 2006 · 10:30 local
Place: Forks, WA
Phase of flight: Hovering
Operating rules: Rotorcraft external load (Part 133)
Operator: WYFL
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N71NW
Reported as: Hiller UH12E
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 8,886 total8,886 in this make and model120 in the last 90 days

N71NWRegistered now · Hiller UH-12ES/N 1315 · Built 1962 Airframe modelHiller UH-12E Engine modelAmateur-built UNKNOWN ENG

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.

(-23) Pilot stated during external load operation, aircraft settled with power. After recovery, aircraft yawed to the left and struck the top of a small tree, which threw out the tail rotor balance. Landed without further incident. Examination of the aircraft noted the tail rotor blade tip cap departed the blade, causing imbalance that damaged tail rotor gearbox and tailboom stinger.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) PILOT STATED DURING EXTERNAL LOAD OPERATION, AIRCRAFT SETTLED WITH POWER. AFTER RECOVERY, AIRCRAFT YAWED TO THE LEFT AND STRUCK THE TOP OF A SMALL TREE, WHICH THREW OUT THE TAIL ROTOR BALANCE. LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRCRAFT NOTED THE TAIL ROTOR BLADE TIP CAP DEPARTED THE BLADE, CAUSING IMBALANCE THAT DAMAGED TAIL ROTOR GEARBOX AND TAILBOOM STINGER.