Robinson R22 N923SM

Summary

On 2 May 2018 at about 15:00 local time, a Robinson R22 registered N923SM, operated by N923SM LLC, was involved in an accident near Panama City, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 May 2018 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Panama City, Florida, United States

Coordinates

30.1739, -85.8075

Aircraft

Robinson R22

Registration

N923SM

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1991

Engines

1

Operator

N923SM LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Perry → Destin

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA140

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to properly remove and secure the tie-down ropes during the preflight inspection, which resulted in the ropes becoming entangled in the rotor head swashplate and pitch control rods during flight and the subsequent loss of pitch control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The float-equipped helicopter was in cruise flight at an airspeed of 80 knots and an altitude of 800 ft mean sea level when it slowly started losing airspeed. The commercial pilot responded by pushing the cyclic control forward, but the airspeed continued to decrease, and the helicopter began to lose altitude. The pilot continued to push the cyclic forward until it contacted the control stop; he then realized that he had no cyclic control authority. The helicopter descended with no forward airspeed until it impacted the water. The helicopter floated briefly until waves struck its side and it rolled inverted. Postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that the main rotor blades were deformed, the fuselage was substantially damaged, and the tail boom was partially separated. Further, the ropes used to tie down the helicopter’s main rotor blades were  found wrapped around the rotor head swashplate and pitch control rods. Before the flight, the pilot conducted a preflight inspection of the helicopter, which would have included removing the rotor blade tie-down ropes and associated socks that cover the rotor blade tips and storing them under the cockpit seat. However, because the ropes were found wrapped around the swashplate and pitch control rods, it is likely that the tie-down ropes were not properly removed and secured and, at some point during the flight, became entangled with the swashplate and pitch control rods, which prevented the pilot from being able to effectively control the pitch of the helicopter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.