Hiller UH 12A N2686

Summary

On 11 September 2017 at about 16:00 local time, a Hiller UH 12A registered N2686 was involved in an accident near Griffith, Indiana, 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

11 September 2017 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Griffith, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Griffith-Merriville Airport (05C)

Coordinates

41.5197, -87.3994

Aircraft

Hiller UH 12A

Registration

N2686

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1950

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Griffith → Griffith

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17LA375

Nobody was injured.

The loss of tail rotor thrust due to a failed tail rotor driveshaft, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor control and a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was providing dual flight instruction to a student pilot in the helicopter. About 10 minutes into the flight, while in a 3-5 ft hover, the student began to lose helicopter control and the helicopter began to spin to the right. Because the student could not regain control, the instructor took the controls, but the helicopter did not respond to cyclic inputs and left pedal input. At this point, the instructor assumed there was a loss of thrust from the tail rotor. He rolled the throttle off, and the helicopter settled to the ground and landed hard. After the landing, the instructor observed that the tail rotor and tail rotor driveshaft were not spinning and heard a grinding noise near the connection of the transmission output shaft and the tail rotor driveshaft. The instructor found that the tail rotor guard had broken off the helicopter and was about 20 ft away. The instructor could not recall if or when the tail rotor guard struck the ground. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail rotor driveshaft had failed near the output shaft of the tail rotor drive assembly. Substantial damage was incurred to the tail rotor and tailboom. Maintenance records were not available. Because neither the student nor the instructor could regain helicopter control, it is likely that the tail rotor driveshaft failed in flight, which led to the loss of tail rotor thrust and subsequent loss of tail rotor control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.