McDonnell Douglas 369E N440TJ

Summary

On 2 September 2001 at about 17:50 local time, a McDonnell Douglas 369E registered N440TJ, operated by Omni Aviation Services, was involved in an accident near Kemmerer, Wyoming, 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

2 September 2001 at 17:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Kemmerer, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

41.7792, -110.5494

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas 369E

Registration

N440TJ

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Omni Aviation Services

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kemmerer → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN01LA154

Nobody was injured.

loss of tail rotor effectiveness while hovering. A contributing factor was the wind gust.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was transporting bags of seismic equipment by long line to a remote site. While he hovered into the wind waiting for a flagger, the helicopter was struck by a wind gust and started turning right. The pilot applied left pedal, but was unable to stop the rotation. The helicopter struck terrain, breaking off both skid legs, tail rotor blades, and tail rotor gearbox. FAA's Advisory Circular 90-95 defines the loss of tail rotor effectiveness as "a critical, low-speed aerodynamic flight characteristic that can result in an uncommanded rapid yaw rate which does not subside of its own accord and, if not corrected, can result in the loss of aircraft control." Some of the conditions conducive to LTE include (1) a high power setting, (2) low airspeed, and (3) a tailwind or left crosswind.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.