Robinson R22 BETA N997SA

Summary

On 1 July 2005 at about 18:50 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N997SA was involved in an accident near Crete, Illinois, 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

1 July 2005 at 18:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Crete, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

41.4328, -87.7817

Aircraft

Robinson R22 BETA

Registration

N997SA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chicago → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05LA173

Nobody was injured.

The separation of the drive belt, during cruise, leading to the puncturing of the oil cooler and subsequent fire. An additional cause was the pilot's restricted lookout during the emergency landing resulting in the hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter sustained substantial damage following an in-flight fire, hard landing, and subsequent ground fire. The pilot's accident report stated, "We were flying ... when I noticed clutch light on. The light stayed on for longer than 7 [seconds] and my decision was to pull clutch circuit breaker to save other belt. I took over the controls when the clutch light went on and I started to set my self up for emergency landing. ... At the same time I noticed smoke inside the cockpit and the smoke was filling inside fast. ... At about 1100 MSL I noticed low rpm light and horn went on, so I lowered the collective and entered autorotation. ... We exited the aircraft and could see the flames above the belts about 3 feet tall." Burnt pieces of alternator and drive belts were recovered from the site. A separated section of a recovered drive belt measured about a foot in length. The bottom quarter of the dipstick had oil on it when removed. The oil cooler exhibited damage on its lower and inboard surfaces, along the aft edge. The lower aft corner of the cooler was separated at its seam there. A dark media covered the engine in the area adjacent to the oil cooler. An oil like media was found on the tail rotor's guard and on the vertical stabilizer. The tailcone was burned away at its forward end. No pre-impact failures of the flight control system were found. The landing gear exhibited downward yielding.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.