Robinson R22 BETA N112HE

Summary

On 9 March 2011 at about 18:30 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N112HE, operated by Heliflight Leasing LLC, was involved in an accident near Bulverde, Texas, 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

9 March 2011 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Bulverde, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.7705, -98.4499

Aircraft

Robinson R22 BETA

Registration

N112HE

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Heliflight Leasing LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bulverde Airprk → Bulverde Airprk

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN11LA226

Nobody was injured.

The in-flight separation of the fuel cap, which impacted the helicopter’s tail rotor and resulted in the loss of tail rotor thrust. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate preflight inspection by both pilots, who did not ensure that the fuel cap was securely tightened before flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to the flight, the flight instructor refueled the helicopter, and the student pilot performed a pre-flight inspection of the helicopter. The instructor and student then departed and were practicing autorotations when the helicopter yawed left and right. The instructor initiated an autorotation to an orchard. The helicopter impacted the ground and trees before coming to rest on its left side. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the left fuel tank’s gas cap was missing. A search in the direction of the helicopter’s flight path located a piece of tail rotor blade and the fuel cap, which had separated into two pieces. Additionally, the fuel cap’s gasket was missing. It could not be determined if the gasket was on the fuel cap before the cap separated from the helicopter. The impact marks on the fuel cap and tail rotor blade piece were consistent with the fuel cap coming into contact with the tail rotor blade.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.