Bell 206L-3 N708M

Summary

On 29 March 2009 at about 23:20 local time, a Bell 206L-3 registered N708M, operated by Air Evac EMS Inc, was involved in an incident near Abilene, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 March 2009 at 23:20

Classification

Incident

Location

Abilene, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.4506, -99.7302

Aircraft

Bell 206L-3

Registration

N708M

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Air Evac EMS Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lubbock → Abilene

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09IA234

Nobody was injured.

The formation and propagation of a fatigue crack in the trailing edge of the main rotor blade due to interconnected porosity and resultant corrosion. The area of interconnected porosity was due to a manufacturing defect which was not detected during the manufacturing process.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Following the post-flight inspection of a repositioning flight, the pilot noted a crack in the trailing edge of the rotor blade. He had characterized the previous flight as turbulent, but otherwise unremarkable and without any mechanical anomalies. An examination of the main rotor blade revealed a path of interconnected porosity between the lower trailing edge skin, trailing edge strip, and epoxy that allowed for the introduction of moisture and resultant corrosion. The failure was due to insufficient squeeze-out of the epoxy layer between the lower skin and the trailing edge strip during manufacture. The corrosion pit allowed the formation of a fatigue crack with a resultant crack along the blade surface.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.