- Date
- December 25, 1989, 09:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Prairie, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N249HSAerospatiale AS-350B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 26, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891225053229A
- Case key
- 23086
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
Manufacturer's failure to property install the left side components of the dual control system following its removal for additional completion work prior to delivery of the aircraft. Contributing to the accident was the failure of quality control personnel to detect the oversight.
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
Initial liftoff and hover were normal, however, as the pilot, who was flying from the left seat, was preparing to takeoff, his cyclic disconnected and came out of the floor mount. The pilot yelled to the rated passenger to take the cyclic and he lowered collective while attempting to maintain directional control with the pedals. The aircraft subsequently landed hard in a tail low attitude, severing the tailboom. Investigation revealed that the 'pip' pin which normally secured the cyclic to the control mount was missing and not found. Examination of the components did not reveal any evidence of working, elongation, or damage in the holes where the pin would have normally been installed. Audit of the maintenance records of the aircraft, which had been delivered from the manufacturer 2 days prior to the accident, revealed that the dual controls had recently been installed and inspected at the factory.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N249HS
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS-350B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2249
- Airframe hours
- 14
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B, 529 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Simpson, Henry
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · December 22, 1990 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- F67
- Destination
- F67
- Airport
- F67 · Municipal
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 8 in this make and model · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DFW, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.