Bell 430 N431UM

Summary

On 17 March 2003 at about 01:15 local time, a Bell 430 registered N431UM, operated by CJ System Aviation Group, was involved in an accident near Highland, Michigan, 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

17 March 2003 at 01:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Highland, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

42.6333, -83.6250

Aircraft

Bell 430

Registration

N431UM

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

CJ System Aviation Group

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ann Arbor → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI03LA084

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance to the roadway sign. Contributing factors were the failure of the tail rotor gearbox, the roadway sign and the low lighting conditions (night).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter was substantially damaged when the tail rotor impacted a roadway sign while repositioning at night for departure. The medical evacuation flight had landed on a roadway to pick-up a patient. The medical crew had departed the helicopter prior to the reposition. The pilot was the only occupant on-board at the time. The pilot reported he began to taxi. He stated he "cleared the tail to move left into the turn around along M-59. I started to move the aircraft which now was facing south into M-59 ... when the tail rotor hit a steel reflector post. The aircraft became airborne to around five or six feet when I lowered the collective and rolled the throttles to idle to stop the aircraft rotation." The aircraft impacted on the left rear skid first and came to rest one-hundred eightly degrees from its initial heading. A post-accident examination revealed the tail rotor and gearbox had departed the helicopter. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.