- Date
- February 8, 1986, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mcalester, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8557KRobinson R-22
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860208007069A
- Case key
- 22000
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 plt was hearding cattle with the helicopter when the accident occurred. He was traveling slow and parallel with a barbed wire fence. He had to turn to the right to avoid a tree which was directly ahead of the acft. Upon making the turn he caught the tail rotor in the fence and tore the tail rotor assembly off the tail boom. The helicopter then went into a spin. The plt closed the throttle and landed the helicopter. The touchdown was hard enough that the fuselage was slightly warped during the impact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8557K
- Reported as
- Robinson R-22
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0461
- Airframe hours
- 644
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mills Brangus Ranch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 13, 1985 · 44 hours before
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
- 59
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,360 total · 860 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.