Bell 47G-3B N8491E

Summary

On 15 May 1997 at about 23:10 local time, a Bell 47G-3B registered N8491E was involved in an accident near Snohomish, Washington, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 May 1997 at 23:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Snohomish, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.9402, -121.9993

Aircraft

Bell 47G-3B

Registration

N8491E

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97LA112

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's encounter with of a loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE) situation, and his subsequent inadequate remedial action. Related factors included: wind conditions that were conducive to an unanticipated right yaw event, and the pilot's limited experience in helicopters.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was in a commercial helicopter pilot upgrade training program. He was not yet rated for helicopters, but did hold an instructor's endorsement granting helicopter solo privileges. At the time of the accident, he was aborting a practice landing in wind conditions which were conducive to an unanticipated right yaw (also known as loss of tail rotor effectiveness, or LTE) event. As he completed a turn to downwind, the helicopter made an uncommanded right turn. Despite the application of left pedal and forward cyclic by the pilot, the helicopter 'continued to rotate violently until impact on the left side.' FAA inspectors, who examined the helicopter at the accident site, reported that they found no evidence of a mechanical malfunction; they stated that the tail rotor system was intact.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.