- Date
- December 3, 2021, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hachita, NM
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7116LRobinson Helicopter R22 Beta
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration FSDO
- FAA report
- 20211203020319A
- Case key
- 104362
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
The pilot’s failure to adequately monitor the environment during a low level operation, which resulted in collision with vegetation.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot departed for a cattle roundup flight of a herd of cows and a single bull. As he approached the herd, with the intention of driving the cattle into the corral, the bull departed and headed toward an area covered with heavy mesquite brush. The pilot circled the area, and stopped the bull under a large mesquite bush, however, while at a hover the bull made a move to go behind the helicopter and the pilot maneuvered the helicopter aft and in so doing the tail rotor contacted a small mesquite limb approximately 1/2 inch in diameter. The impact resulted in a catastrophic failure of the tail rotor system, which separated from the tailboom. The helicopter began to spin, and the pilot applied correct control inputs and reduced engine power. The helicopter then landed hard in a level attitude, spreading the skids and deforming the lower fuselage structure. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7116L
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R22 Beta
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2993
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 8,156.6
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-J2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Tcwh Inc
- Registered owner
- Tcwh Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 5, 2021 · 45.7 hours before
- Departed
- PVT · Hachita, NM
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Equipment
- None
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
- 74
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 25, 2021
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 22,412 total · 8,513 in this make and model · 22,135 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 71 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KDMN, 58 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KDMN 031653Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 14/00 A3020 RMK AO2 SLP188 T01390000=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 18, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.