# Incident 20110609012909I: Agusta Spa A109E, Elko, NV, June 9, 2011

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: June 9, 2011, 17:15 local time
- Place: Elko, NV
- Airport: Elko
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Unknown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Operator: 1EXA
- Location: 40.8250° N, 115.7913° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at ELKO RGNL (EKO), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.8250&lon=-115.7913&mi=10
- Aircraft: N272SM, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N272SM) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Agusta A109E (registry code 0260101, https://openairdocs.org/model/agusta-a109e) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG (registry code 99999, https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AGUSTA SPA A109E
- Reported engine: AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Airline transport
- Pilot flight hours: 3,722 total, 65 in this make and model, 26 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20110609012909I

## Narrative

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

THE HELICOPTER WAS ON A FLIGHT AFTER MAINTENANCE FOR A STABILIZER AND TR SERVO CHANGES.  AFTER THE FLIGHT THE MECHANIC AND THE PILOT NOTICED THAT A MAIN ROTOR BLADE AND THE TAIL BOOM HAD DAMAGE.  THE PILOT REPORTED HE DID NOT NOTICE ANY IRREGULARITIES DURING THE FLIGHT.  PICTURES OF THE DAMAGED ROTOR BLADE DEPICT THAT SOME UNKNOWN OBJECT IMPACTED THE BLADE FROM BELOW.  THE UNKOWN OBJECT APPEARED TO HIT IN THE CENTER OF THE BLADE.  THE BLADE LOWER SURFACE HAD IMPACT DAMAGE AND THE COMPOSITE SKIN WAS MISSING 3 INCHES OF SKIN AND HAD SOME HONEYCOMB CORE DAMAGE.  THE TAIL BOOM HAD IMPACT DAMAGE ON THE UPPER SURFACE THAT APPEARS TO BE THE RICOCHET FROM THE MAIN ROTOR BLADE IMPACT.THE DAMAGE TO THE HELICOPTER BLADE AND TAIL BOOM COULD NOT BE DETERMINED THROUGH OUR INVESTIGATION.

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.