ATL06LA059

The helicopter was observed by witnesses descending and flying east bound over County Road 222 in the vicinity of Whitlock’s General Store between 30 to 200 feet above the ground. One witness thought the pilot was following a creek in preparation for landing at a private helipad where a mechanic is known to perform maintenance on helicopters. A change in engine noise was heard as the helicopter collided with telephone lines, the nose pitched down, the helicopter collided with the ground near a highway guardrail, rolled over on its right side, and a post crash fire ensued. Examination of the airframe, flight controls, main rotor system, tail rotor system, and engine assembly and accessories revealed no anomalies. The pilot stated to his brother he has no recollection of the events concerning the flight. Review of records revealed the pilot had flown the helicopter 4.1 hours in the last year.

History of flight

On April 1, 2006, at 1802 central standard time, a Brantly B2B, N2183U, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, collided with telephone and guy wires while maneuvering in the vicinity of Cullman, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter sustained substantial damage, and a post crash fire ensued. The private pilot received serious injuries and stated to his brother that he has no recollection of the events concerning the flight. The flight originated from a private heliport in Madison, Alabama, on April 1, 2006, at an undetermined time. The helicopter was enroute to a private heliport in Cullman, Alabama.

A witness who was driving his truck west bound in the vicinity of Cullman, Alabama stated he observed a helicopter flying east bound over County Road 222 between 100 to 200 feet above the ground. The helicopter flew over his truck and started a descent as if it was going to land. The driver pulled over and turned his vehicle around to watch the helicopter. The helicopter leveled off between 30 to 40 feet above the ground and collided with some telephone wires. Right before the collision, the witness stated he felt the pilot lost control of the helicopter. The nose of the helicopter pitched down and the helicopter collided with the ground near a highway guardrail and rolled over on its right side.

Another witness who was in his back yard with his son heard the helicopter approaching their location. The helicopter was flying eastbound across County Road 222 near a creek in the vicinity of Whitlock's General Store. The witness thought the pilot was following a creek in preparation for landing at a private helipad where a mechanic is known to perform maintenance on helicopters. The helicopter was observed to start a descent. The helicopter was at about 30 feet above the ground when the witness heard a change in engine noise. The witness stated the helicopter collided with telephone lines, the nose pitched down, and the helicopter disappeared from view. He immediately informed his wife to call the 911 emergency operators. He and his son departed on a four-wheeler and went to the crash site. The helicopter was on fire, and he heard someone ask for a knife. He went over to the helicopter and cut the pilot's seat belt and the pilot was removed from the burning wreckage. The girlfriend of the injured pilot arrived at the accident site shortly after the accident. She stated the pilot was taking the helicopter to a private heliport in the immediate area so an annual inspection could be performed on the helicopter.

Personnel information

Review of records on file with the FAA Airman Certification Branch, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed the pilot was issued a private pilot certificate on April 30,1988, with ratings for rotorcraft helicopter. The pilot held a third class medical certificate issued on June 8, 2004, with the restriction, " Holder shall wear corrective lenses." The pilot indicated on his application for the third class medical certificate that he had accumulated 152 total flight hours. The pilot's last flight review was conducted on March 26, 2006. The pilot's logbook revealed he has a total of 160.1 hours of which 83.61 hours are in the B2B. The pilot has 80.6 hours as pilot-in-command in all helicopters and 79.4 hours in the B2B. The pilot's last recorded flight before the accident was during his flight review. The pilot's last flight before the flight review was on September 8, 2005.

Aircraft information

The helicopter was a Brantly model B2B, serial No. 345, manufactured in 1965. The helicopter is equipped with a Lycoming IVO-360-A1A, 180 horsepower engine. The last recorded annual inspection was conducted on March 18, 2005. The Hobbs meter indicated 537.2 hours. The total time since major overhaul was 790.2 hours. The airframe total time was 1,405.0 hours. The helicopter has flown 4.1 hours since the annual inspection not including the accident flight. The Hobbs meter was destroyed by post crash fire. No Airworthiness Directive compliance list was located with the logbooks.

Meteorological information

The nearest weather reporting facility at the time of the accident was Folsum Field, Cullman, Alabama, located 11.2 south southwest of the accident site. The 1800 surface weather observation was: clear, visibility 10 miles, temperature 70 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point temperature 55 degrees Fahrenheit, winds calm, and altimeter 30.09.

Wreckage and impact information

The wreckage was located on County Road 222, adjacent to Whitlock's General Store, and 11.2 miles south southwest of Folsom Field, Cullman, Alabama. Examination of the wreckage revealed the helicopter collided with telephone wires and guy wires before colliding with County Road 222, and came to rest on its right side on a heading of 170-degrees magnetic next to a guardrail opposing opposite traffic.

The cabin assembly, upper and lower canopy, left and right cabin seats, seatbelts and shoulder harness were consumed by fire. The left doorframe separated from the airframe and the door glass was consumed by fire. The right cabin door separated from the airframe and received fire damage. The door glass was consumed by fire. The lower console instrument panel was consumed by fire except for the circuit breaker panel. The upper console separated from the lower console and was fire damaged. The pilot seat frame was present and fire damaged.

All struts were connected to the left skid and were fire damaged. Recovery personnel cut the two rear struts. The forward lateral and oleo strut separated from the airframe. The drag strut separated from the airframe. All struts were connected to the right skid and were fire damaged. Recovery personnel cut the forward oleo strut. The forward lateral strut separated from the fuselage. Recovery personnel cut the rear lateral and rear oleo struts. The drag strut separated from the airframe.

The right rudder bell crank was attached to the seat frame. The left seat frame was not located. The left seat rudder bell crank separated from the seat and was fire damaged. Both control rods that connect the left seat bell crank to the rudder pedals were connected to the bell crank. The interconnect control rod from the left to the right rudder bell crank was found connected to the right bell crank and separated from the left bell crank.

The left and right rudder pedals were fire damaged, and were separated forward of the control rods. The left rudder cable was attached to the right bell crank and was separated aft of its turnbuckle. The cable was forwarded to the NTSB Laboratory for further analysis. The right rudder cable was attached by its safety wire to the right bell crank and separated forward of its turnbuckle. The cable was forwarded to the NTSB laboratory for further analysis. The left and right rudder cables extended aft to the aft bell crank. The tail rotor pitch change control was continuous from the aft bell crank to both tail rotor blades.

Examination of the right rudder control cable by the NTSB Materials Laboratory revealed the exposed surfaces displayed corrosion and the surface of the turnbuckle displayed a splatter of white metal. These features are commonly observed after a post impact fire (white metal spattered on components is normally structural aluminum that had melted, splashed onto that component, and eventually solidified). After cleaning, the clevis end was placed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the fracture face was examined. The SEM examination revealed that the fracture face displayed ductile dimples, typical of an overload event.

The portions of the left rudder control cable received for examination consisted of a turnbuckle and a length of cable that was approximately 8 inches long. The turnbuckle was still intact and wire locked. As observed on the right