Bell 47G-2A N818HJ

Summary

On 17 July 2000 at about 19:22 local time, a Bell 47G-2A registered N818HJ was involved in an accident near Covington, Tennessee, 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

17 July 2000 at 19:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Covington, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.5591, -89.6408

Aircraft

Bell 47G-2A

Registration

N818HJ

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA00LA222

Nobody was injured.

the pilot allowed the helicopter to get too low while hovering, which resulted in the tail rotor striking the ground, the separation of the blade, and subsequent force landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While at hover, about 15 to 20 feet above a field, at an indicated airspeed of about 20 knots, the pilot heard a 'bang' and the helicopter began to vibrate. The tail of the helicopter started coming around, so the pilot elected to set the helicopter down on the ground. When he landed, the main and tail rotor hit the ground. According to the FAA inspector's report, '...the tailskid may have touched down at a point 123 feet from where the rotorcraft impacted the ground,' at a location in the field where about 20 feet of cotton stalks were found to have been pulled up or cut. The damaged tail rotor and yoke were shipped to Bell Helicopter for metallurgical inspection. The inspection revealed there was no evidence of fatigue cracking on the surface of the separated blade. The separation was an overload failure. The damage to both the separated blade and the complete blade was consistent with a tail rotor blade strike. The pilot reported that he had 15 flight hours in this make and model helicopter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.