- Date
- May 24, 1983, 12:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Goshen, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N51763Enstrom 280C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 23724
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
About 5 min after taking off, the plt noticed a sudden loss of power to the tail rotor. He made an emergency landing in an alfalfa field. He reported that during an autorotative landing, he had insufficient collective to flare properly. Subsequently, the main rotor blades severed the tail boom, an exam revealed that the tail rotor aft drive coupling, pn 28-13609, had failed. All of the internal gear teeth on the female portion of the coupling were stripped. There was evidence of inadequate lubrication.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51763
- Reported as
- Enstrom 280C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1153
- Airframe hours
- 1,148
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-E1BD, 205 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Norman L. Clark
- Registered owner
- Clark Bros., Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 18, 1983 · 47 hours before
- Departed
- VIS · Visalia, CA
- Destination
- Dos Palos, CA
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,076 total · 261 in this make and model · 985 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 315° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F
Other investigations on N51763 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.