Bell OH-58A N923MC

Summary

On 27 September 2001 at about 21:20 local time, a Bell OH-58A registered N923MC was involved in an accident near Sevierville, Tennessee, United States. 2 people were 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

27 September 2001 at 21:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Sevierville, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.7611, -83.6744

Aircraft

Bell OH-58A

Registration

N923MC

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sevierville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA01LA231

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to maintain control of the helicopter while approach to land resulting in a hard landing, a tail rotor ground strike, and the main rotor striking the tail boom.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that as he approached his landing zone, while about 3 feet agl, the helicopter veered to the left. He corrected using right cyclic and by lowering the collective. The helicopter touched down hard causing a tailrotor strike and the main rotor to strike the tail boom. Postcrash examination of the helicopter at the crash site by an FAA Inspector, and after recovery from the crash site by an FAA Inspector and a representative of Bell Helicopter confirmed that continuity of flight control components existed at the time of impact, and that there was freedom of movement throughout the flight control systems after recovery. The examination confirmed that there was a high rate of rotation of the drive train components at the time of impact. There were no preimpact airframe anomalies identified.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.