# NTSB investigations: Bell 407: Off-field or emergency landing

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB WPR24LA265](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR24LA265.md): Bell 407 · Raft River, ID · Accident · Minor injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report · Aug 3, 2024 · N20BH · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s misdiagnosis of an erroneous engine instrument indication and his subsequent decision to enter an autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing due to degraded visual cues and low ambient light conditions. Contributing to the accident were the…
- [NTSB CEN17LA188](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN17LA188.md): Bell 407 · Fort Worth, TX · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jan 24, 2017 · N6040Y · Substantial damage
  > The flight instructor's failure to prevent the engine/rotor overspeed condition during the demonstration maneuver and the excessive descent rate during the emergency landing, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the engine/rotor overspeed…
- [NTSB CEN15LA265](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN15LA265.md): Bell 407 · Pecan Island, LA · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 8, 2015 · N501PH · Substantial damage
  > The fatigue fracture of the tail rotor gearbox attachment studs, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor control and a subsequent hard landing.
- [NTSB CEN15IA046](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN15IA046.md): Bell 407 · Viosca Knoll 989 · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · Nov 11, 2014 · N373RL · No damage
  > Engine power surges during takeoff for reasons that could not be determined during postaccident testing of the engine and the engine control unit.
- [NTSB CEN14IA270](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN14IA270.md): Bell 407 · Eugene Island 182A · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · May 30, 2014 · N1197 · No damage
  > The improper repair of the outer combustion case, which led to its ultimate failure due to the continued progression of a fatigue crack and resulted in a partial loss of engine power during takeoff.
- [NTSB WPR13TA205](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR13TA205.md): Bell BHT407 · Big Fork, MT · Accident · No injuries · Final report · Apr 25, 2013 · N937GR · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain helicopter control while maneuvering over mountainous terrain in strong up/downdrafts and possible mountain wave activity, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness.
- [NTSB ERA12TA538](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA12TA538.md): Bell 407 · Bath, NY · Accident · Minor injuries · Final report · Aug 31, 2012 · N11SP · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's improper recovery from an in-flight upset, which resulted in the main rotor striking and separating the tail boom. Contributing to the accident was the helicopter manufacturer's failure to warn pilots of unanticipated and unequal aft cyclic…
- [NTSB CEN12LA242](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN12LA242.md): Bell 407 · Aberdeen, SD · Accident · Minor injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Apr 14, 2012 · N509MT · Substantial damage
  > The fatigue failure of two turbine engine blades due to vibration.

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."mKey" IN (SELECT x.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' x WHERE x.aircraft_model_code IN ('1182206')
    AND EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' s WHERE s.case_mkey = x.case_mkey AND s.aircrafts_position = x.position AND s."tier2Number" = '440' AND s.case_mkey IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' WHERE "isDefiningEvent")))
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence?model=1182206

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