Bell 206L-1 N2138Y

Summary

On 22 April 1982 at about 16:30 local time, a Bell 206L-1 registered N2138Y, operated by Petroleum Helicipters, Inc., was involved in an accident near Cameron, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

22 April 1982 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Cameron, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

29.7909, -93.2895

Aircraft

Bell 206L-1

Registration

N2138Y

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Petroleum Helicipters, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cameron → Gulf of Mexico

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW82DA144

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

N2138Y DEPARTED CAMERON, LA AFTER REFUELING EN ROUTE TO AN OFFSHORE RIG. SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTURE, WHILE OVER WATER, THE AIRCRAFT BEGAN TO YAW AND VIBRATE SEVERELY. THE PILOT STATED THAT THE TAIL ROTOR PEDALS "KICKED" HARD WHEN ADDITIONAL POWER WAS APPLIED. THE AIRCRAFT STARTED TO SPIRAL AND TUCK TO THE RIGHT. THE PILOT DEPLOYED THE FLOATS AND CLOSED THE THROTTLE IN AN EFFORT TO CUSHION THE IMPACT. EXAMINATION OF THE TAIL ROTOR BLADE REVEALED THAT THE BLADE TIP COUNTERWEIGHT SEPARATED, CAUSING A SEVERE DYNAMIC IMBALANCE. THE COUNTERWEIGHT SEPARATION WAS DUE TO DEBONDING OF THE WEIGHT BLOCK AND THE BLADESKIN SOMETIME PRIOR TO THE SUBJECT FLIGHT. EXAMINATION OF THE TAIL ROTOR GEARBOX REVEALED EVIDENCE OF FATIGUE FRACTURES OF THE GEARBOX ATTACHMENT STUB.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.