Hughes OH-6A N8524Z

Summary

On 7 October 2003 at about 16:58 local time, a Hughes OH-6A registered N8524Z was involved in an accident near Eagle Pass, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 October 2003 at 16:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Eagle Pass, Texas, United States

Coordinates

28.7089, -100.4992

Aircraft

Hughes OH-6A

Registration

N8524Z

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Del Rio → Eagle Pass

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW04TA012

1 person had minor injuries.

The failure of the aft segment of the tail rotor drive shaft for undertermined reasons. A contibuting factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the foced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 2,363-hour pilot reported that he was maneuvering the helicopter at an altitude of 30 to 60 feet AGL, with 5 to 10 knots forward airspeed when the nose of the helicopter started to move to the right. The pilot corrected for this with the left pedal. The nose of the helicopter stopped momentarily then started moving back to the right and could not be stopped with full left pedal. The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably to the right and the engine and rotor RPM increased. The pilot tried to hold the helicopter level with the cyclic, lowered the collective, held full left pedal and started to retard the throttle when contact with the ground occurred. The helicopter came to rest on its left side. The pilot reported that the tail rotor was not turning when the helicopter hit the ground. Examination of the helicopter by the operator revealed that the aft segment of the tail rotor drive shaft, approximately 24 inches forward of the tail rotor gear box attach point, was separated. The reason for the separation was not determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.