Bell 205A-1 N68HJ

Summary

On 21 March 1996 at about 20:10 local time, a Bell 205A-1 registered N68HJ was involved in an accident near Grove Hill, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 March 1996 at 20:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Grove Hill, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

31.9101, -87.7402

Aircraft

Bell 205A-1

Registration

N68HJ

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL96LA068

Nobody was injured.

fatigue failure of the vertical fin forward spar in an area that was not accessible to inspection. A factor relating to the accident was: guidance for inspection of the area (where the fatigue occurred) was insufficiently defined by the manufacturer.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an external lift operation to pick up a fertilizer bucket, the vertical fin separated from the tail boom. The helicopter rotated to the right, and the pilot tried to move away from obstacles. The tail boom struck the ground and separated from the fuselage, while the helicopter was still rotating to the right. The main rotor blades hit a tree and the helicopter came to rest on the ground on its left side. Investigation revealed a fatigue fracture through a rivet hole of the vertical fin forward spar. An inspection of this area was signed off the day prior to the accident. However, examination of the wreckage, and a sister ship, revealed that the fracture location could not be observed during normal inspections because of other structure. One airworthiness directive (AD), and service bulletins issued by the manufacturer, addressed vertical fin spar cracks, but none applied to this ship. The AD required removal of the rivet, where the fatigue fracture initiated, to facilitate inspection of the rivet hole. The inspection was no longer required after compliance with a service bulletin that modified the spar. This helicopter was modified during its original manufacture.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.