- Date
- July 3, 1982, 11:13 local (16:13 UTC)
- Place
- Near Mertzon, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N73983Bell 47G2A1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 3, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820703027469A
- Case key
- 71898
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
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
While the aircraft was being hovered low and slow around a water trough, directional control was lost. The pilot autorotated to the ground and on touchdown the right skid buckled and the tailrotor gearbox separated when it struck an ant hill. The pilot originally reported that one of the tailrotor blades had separated in what appeared to be fatigue. However metallurgical examination of the failed parts indicated that all of the fractures had occured in overload. The reported winds would have been conducive to loss of tailrotor effectiveness at lower airspeeds.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73983
- Reported as
- Bell 47G2A1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2873
- Airframe hours
- 8,972
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-A1E, 240 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Hal E. Noelke
- Registered owner
- Hal E. Noelke
- Departed
- Near Mertzon, TX
- Destination
- Near Mertzon, TX
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 1,464 total · 186 in this make and model · 125 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 165° at 25 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 185 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N73983 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.