Garlick UH-1H N114DR

Summary

On 21 June 2002 at about 12:15 local time, a Garlick UH-1H registered N114DR was involved in an accident near Clark Fork, Idaho, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 June 2002 at 12:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Clark Fork, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

48.0922, -116.1533

Aircraft

Garlick UH-1H

Registration

N114DR

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clark Fork → Clark Fork

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA02FA108

1 person died.

A failure of unknown origin in the tail rotor drive assembly. Factors include mountainous terrain unsuitable for an emergency landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting long-line logging operations in a restricted category helicopter when witnesses heard what they described as a loud bang. A witness reported that the pilot had just released the fifth load of logs for the morning and was maneuvering, in a turn, and ascending up the hill. As the helicopter ascended, the witness heard the loud bang. Concurrent with the loud bang, the witness stated that he observed pieces of the helicopter, from the area of the tail boom, flying through the air. The helicopter then yawed to the left, just before impacting terrain in a nose low attitude. A search of the surrounding area located several pieces of the tail rotor assembly. The tail rotor blades, yoke assembly, pitch change links, a portion of the slider, crosshead and the distal end of the control shaft were located, as a unit, near the main wreckage. However, the splined barrel portion of the slider, the tail rotor static stop, tail rotor input shaft and tail rotor retaining nut were not found. Detailed examination of the remains of the tail rotor slider assembly revealed that the tail rotor slider lugs had fractured as a result of fatigue; however, because the condition of the missing components is unknown, it could not be determined if the fractured slider assembly was the primary failure of the tail rotor assembly.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.