MIA00GA121

According to the ground crew, there were no witnesses to the accident. Five minutes after initial radio contact with the helicopter in preparation for a coyote eradication mission, contact was lost. The wreckage was found about 2-miles from its launch point. The wreckage revealed signs of a high rate of descent terrain collision with low or no engine and rotor speed. On-site and subsequent examination of the rotorcraft's engine, engine components, transmission, clutch, main and tail rotor drive trains, and flight controls revealed no mechanical malfunction or failure. A spent shotgun shell was found lying loose under the seat panel that possessed a crush mark that appeared to fit between two crushing surfaces, namely, the throttle bell crank and the coorelator assembly for the right seat where the right collective control column had been removed. The jam scenario was simulated numerous and separate times with an undamaged HU-269C and identical spent shotgun shells, both by the USDA accident investigator and the NTSB investigator. It was determined the jam only interfered with throttle action toward the decrease power setting and was easily overpowered by a stronger twisting action.

History of flight

On March 27, 2000, about 0740 central standard time, a Hughes HU-269C, N1110N, registered to Go Helicopters, Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 public-use flight, crashed while maneuvering near Del Rio, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter was destroyed and the commercially-rated pilot and a passenger received fatal injuries. The flight originated about 10 minutes before the accident.

The flight was a coyote eradication mission, contracted and controlled by a coalition of USDA, local ranchers, and Val Verde County. The flight had just lifted off from its travel trailer and had conducted a radio check-in with the ground crew located about 6 miles northeast. When radio contact was lost, the ground crew started a search and found the wreckage about 2 miles northeast of its liftoff point. There were no eyewitnesses to the crash.

Personnel information

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane, single engine land, and a commercial pilot certificate for helicopter. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on June 9, 1999, without limitations. U.S. Department of Agriculture helicopter pilot proficiency records indicate that at the time of the pilot's proficiency check ride on November 17, 1999, he had logged 2,517 flight hours of which 2,260 were as pilot-in-command, (PIC)and 2,000 were in the HU-269C type helicopter. The results of the check ride were recorded as satisfactory, except for the examiner's remark, "need to use checklist".

The wife of the pilot provided a chronological history of the pilot's activities for the 4 days preceding the accident. Activities included weekend social interrelations with family and friends, relatively low priority personal property upkeep and work activities, and preparing for the next week's flying schedule. Rest time, anticipated next week's work, and diet appeared non-stressful.

Aircraft information

The helicopter had both left and right entry doors removed and an aluminum strap external cargo rack was installed adjacent to the right doorway for varmint carcass hauling. The right seat flight and engine controls and the center seat had been removed to accommodate the gunner and a centerline tray for ammunition and marking streamers. The optional 19-gallon left side auxiliary fuel tank was installed. Five-point restraining harnesses with single-point, rotary-latching mechanisms were installed at both crew seats. The rotorcraft had undergone a 100-hour inspection on January 22, 2000, at an airframe total time of 3976.7 hours and a Hobbs time of 1781.9 hours. At that time a new tail boom, serial No. 0990655, was installed. The total time on the airframe at the accident site was 4026.8 hours.

The Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine, serial No. L-21305-51A, had received a field major overhaul and signed off by an FAA certified mechanic on March 19, 2000, at an airframe total time of 3995.3 hours and a Hobbs time of 1800.5 hours, or about 31.5 flight hours prior to the accident. A new alternator was installed at that time. There was no record that the AC diaphragm fuel pump was replaced at engine overhaul per Textron Lycoming SB 240Q, or that the fuel system components, per Textron Lycoming SI 1404A, or that the magnetos, per Textron Lycoming SB 515, were overhauled at engine overhaul.

On the Thursday prior to the Monday accident, a company mechanic had changed the voltage regulator because the battery was being overcharged and spewing battery acid from the cap vent holes. A subsequent test of the electrical system proved the overcharging condition still existed. The Friday before the accident, the over-voltage relay was replaced and the overcharging problem appeared to clear up. On Saturday the helicopter flew a cattle-herding mission for .7 hours by the accident pilot. No further report of overcharging was noted.

Meteorological information

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and density altitude was 1,703 feet. Meteorological information is contained in this report on page 3, under, "Weather Information". WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The accident site is located on the Hutto Ranch, about 7 miles north of Del Rio, 3.5 miles east of U.S. Highway 277/377 at coordinates N29 29.15 by W100 52.27 degrees. The terrain's surface is hard dirt and rock with knee-high scrub brush and cactus growth at about 1,000 feet elevation. An occasional gully or ravine, 20 to 50 feet deep, threads throughout the generally rolling terrain. The wreckage site was situated on flat, roughly shrubbed terrain adjacent to a 30-foot deep ravine. The wreckage path was oriented about 30 degrees, magnetic, about 70 feet in length, and coincided with a straight line between the point of lift off near the ranch house and the ground crew's location. The first ground scar contained pieces of a tail rotor blade's tip/trailing edge and 14 feet further along the path revealed a ground scar made by the vertical stabilizer. Twenty-three feet further revealed spewed engine crankcase oil. The pattern of spewed oil was downward and forward, (30 degrees, magnetic) and littered with pieces of fractured crankcase. The airframe came to rest 33 feet further along the wreckage path, having rolled so that the main rotor shaft was about 110 degrees from the vertical, viewed from behind the wreckage. Examination of airframe damage and ground scars revealed characteristics of a steep, nose high approach and high-g ground contact and bounce with no or low engine and rotor rpm. The center frame section and the landing skids were heavily distorted. The tail boom had separated at its forward attach point and lay right of wreckage path centerline between the first ground scar and the main wreckage. The tail rotor was still attached to the tail boom. The aft portion of the tail rotor drive shaft was still contained within the tail boom and its fracture site was in-line with the separation site of the tail boom. The forward section of the tail rotor drive shaft was found to the right of wreckage path centerline, outboard of the tail boom. The tail boom and its left support strut revealed a low energy main rotor blade collision impression. The boom mounted vertical stabilizer had sustained ground collision crushing. Neither the main nor the tail rotor drive systems revealed evidence of rotational damage. The lower coupling drive shaft, (short shaft) revealed non-rotational damage to the splines at the engine end. There was no leading edge scarring of the three main rotor blades or the tail rotor blades. There was no evidence of shotgun damage to any blade. One of the two tail rotor blades revealed non-rotational trailing edge compression damage that matched the ground scars and blade pieces found at the first ground scar. The main rotor hub assembly revealed evidence of extreme blade flapping. The red main rotor blade was found bent upward about 45 degrees just outboard of the blade doublers; the blue blade was bent upward about 10 degrees just outboard of the blade doublers; and the yellow blade, about 45 degrees downward.

Both externally mounted fuel tanks received heavy impact damage. The right, (30 gallon) main tank was heavily wrinkled, but still attached. The left, (19 gallon) auxiliary tank had separated, was heavily wrinkled and punctured, and was found adjacent to the wreckage at 9 o'clock, viewed from behind the wreckage. Both tanks contained residual fuel that appeared clean with the characteristic blue color of 100LL octane. The fuel tested negative for water content.

The site was littered with live shotgun shells, paper streamers, and a very pistol. A wristwatch was found, having stopped at 0730. A shotgun, not recently fired, was found in the wreckage. The pilot was found lying adjacent to and behind the airframe. The crewman was found 18 feet forward