Bell 47-G3B1 N3084G

Summary

On 10 February 2001 at about 03:00 local time, a Bell 47-G3B1 registered N3084G was involved in an accident near Winterhaven, California, 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

10 February 2001 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Winterhaven, California, United States

Coordinates

33.7108, -116.2293

Aircraft

Bell 47-G3B1

Registration

N3084G

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Yuma → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX01LA098

Nobody was injured.

A failure of the transmission free wheeling unit due to improper maintenance. A factor was the dark night visual condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was applying chemicals at night to a field of lettuce and had just taken off from his truck platform with 60 gallons of chemicals. He was about 20 feet above ground level and had a forward air speed of approximately 30 miles per hour when he heard a loud screeching sound, followed by a yaw to the left, a rapid decay of rotor rpm, and an increase/overspeed in engine rpm. The helicopter landed hard, collapsing the skids. Post accident examination of the transmission was conducted, revealing that the outer surface of the free wheeling unit of the inner gear assembly was worn below allowable limits at the roller/gear operating surface. The worn freewheeling inner ring gear allowed a mechanical disconnect between the engine output and the main rotor transmission, and resulted in a loss of main rotor speed and the subsequent hard landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.