Bell OH-58C N9263Y

Summary

On 12 May 2011 at about 20:17 local time, a Bell OH-58C registered N9263Y, operated by Couch Helicopter Service Inc, was involved in an accident near New Athens, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 May 2011 at 20:17

Classification

Accident

Location

New Athens, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

38.3428, -89.9178

Aircraft

Bell OH-58C

Registration

N9263Y

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Couch Helicopter Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

New Athens → New Athens

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN11FA337

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to attain sufficient altitude to clear terrain while maneuvering.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter was being used for agricultural spraying of a wheat field. It had just taken off from a support truck for another spraying circuit when the support truck workers heard a noise, looked in the direction of the helicopter, and saw the helicopter spinning without its tail boom attached. The terrain in the area of the accident site consisted of rolling hills. At the top of a hill along the route of flight, several spray nozzles from the helicopter’s spray boom were found on the ground. The main wreckage of the helicopter was located about 250 feet further along the route of flight. The tail rotor and the aft section of the tail boom were found between the spray nozzles and the main wreckage. Examination of the wreckage revealed evidence that the main rotor blade had struck the tail boom severing it from the helicopter. Further examination found no preimpact defects of the helicopter, its engine, control system, or drive system. Data downloaded from an on-board global positioning system (GPS) showed that the helicopter took off from the support truck and headed in a westerly direction and accelerated to about 52 miles per hour. The GPS track passed over the location where the spray nozzles were found. The recorded altitude from the GPS was below the elevation of the surrounding terrain. Therefore, the altitude information from the GPS was not accurate enough to use for flight analysis. Based on the available information, it is likely that the pilot inadvertently flew the helicopter into the rising terrain, which resulted in the main rotor blades flexing downward and severing the tail boom. Once the tail boom was severed, the pilot would not have had any anti-torque control and would not have been able to prevent the helicopter from spinning uncontrollably.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.