- Date
- June 6, 1988, 19:45 local (Jun 7, 1988, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Coaling, AL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N883Sikorsky S-55C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 7772
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The helo was approaching a helipad for landing after the last aerial application flight of the day when there was a pop and tail rotor control was lost. After several rotations about the vertical axis, the PIC landed the helo hard, collapsing the landing gear. The pic/owner said the tail rotor pitch change link bolt and nut were absent. There was no other damage to the tail rotor. The pic/owner said he had changed the tail rotor hub and the pitch change links during the winter, about 50 flight hours prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N883
- Reported as
- Sikorsky S-55C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 551015
- Engine
- Wright R-1300-D, 800 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Morris, Roy L.
- Registered owner
- Roy L Morris
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 6, 1988 · 50 hours before
- Airport
- Helicopter Pad
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 14,350 total · 600 in this make and model · 100 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TCL, 8 nm away