- Date
- August 20, 1992, 11:03 local (16:03 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, TX
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N702NABell XV-15 301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920820032489A
- Case key
- 18371
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
Inadequate maintenance and inspection which resulted in a disconnected proprotor governor linkage.
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
During a demonstration flight of the tiltrotor aircraft, the left proprotor governor disconnected due to a missing safety on the castellated nut that secures the proprotor to the governor linkage. When the governor disconnected, the propeller surged to the maximum pitch setting and rolled the aircraft around the longitudinal axis. Flight data recordings indicated that the aircraft experienced a roll to the right that began slowly and accelerated to the inverted position in less than 3 seconds. The aircraft impacted the ground inverted. Neither occupant could egress without assistance due to inconsistent instructions for emergency egress.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N702NA
- Reported as
- Bell XV-15 301
- Category
- Unknown
- Serial number
- 0001
- Airframe hours
- 841
- Engine
- Lycoming LTC1K-4K, 1,550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Bell Helicopter Textron
- Registered owner
- Nasa
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · January 9, 1992 · 81 hours before
- Departed
- ARL
- Destination
- ARL
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- F54 · Arlington Muni
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 8,800 total · 200 in this make and model · 7,500 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DFW, 20 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.