- Date
- June 18, 2022, 08:14 local (12:14 UTC)
- Place
- Pelion, SC · On airport
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N515TVBell 206B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220618010589A
- Case key
- 105584
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper landing flare during a practice autorotation.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot said that while practicing an autorotation, the helicopter did not slide forward on the landing as he had expected, and instead came to a quick stop. The pilot rated passenger said the helicopter did not slide forward like a typical run-on landing, but “bucked” forward as it came to a quick stop just after it touched down. The pilot subsequently felt a vibration in the anti-torque pedals and shut the helicopter down. Postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail rotor drive shaft was bent and the cowling around the area of the bend had ruptured. Given that the helicopter was operating normally prior to the landing, it is likely that the forces imparted by (or were the result of) the pilot’s control inputs during the landing resulted in the damage to the tail rotor drive shaft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N515TV
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2130
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 142,999
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Dirt Pour LLC
- Registered owner
- Dirt Pour LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 22, 2021
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 6J0 · Lexington County, runway 18, 4,334 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 22, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,085 total · 262 in this make and model · 37.6 in the last 90 days
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,025 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- KCAE, 11 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KCAE 181156Z 22003KT 6SM BR SCT005 24/23 A3003
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 15, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 26.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.