Airbus Helicopters AS350 N1WT

Summary

On 3 May 2020 at about 17:15 local time, a Airbus Helicopters AS350 registered N1WT, operated by MacNeil Aviation LLC, was involved in an incident near Clewiston, Florida, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 May 2020 at 17:15

Classification

Incident

Location

Clewiston, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Airglades (2IS)

Coordinates

26.7350, -81.0511

Aircraft

Airbus Helicopters AS350

Registration

N1WT

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2018

Engines

1

Operator

MacNeil Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

West Palm Beach → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ENG20LA031

Nobody was injured.

Seizure of the hydraulic pump pulley bearing due to its improper installation by the manufacturer, leading to a failure of the hydraulic pump belt and the resultant partial loss of hydraulic assistance to the pedals.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The No. 2 hydraulic system (HYD2) pulley bearing likely failed due to being installed skewed onto its pulley, resulting in abnormal bearing loads which led to its premature failure. The plastic deformation observed on the raceways and rolling elements, as well as contact damage on the bearing cage, were consistent with sliding of the rolling elements against the raceways and cage due to abnormal loading and forced rotation of a seized bearing. The seizure of the HYD2 pulley bearing led to the deterioration of the drive belt, resulting in its failure and the subsequent loss of hydraulic pressure in HYD2. Loss of hydraulic assistance from HYD2, which included the tail rotor servo control, resulted in higher pedal forces to control the helicopter in the yaw axis. It is likely the HYD2 pulley bearing did not show obvious visual evidence of deterioration during past inspections, including the last scheduled inspection about 13 flight hours prior to the incident, and visual detection of the deteriorating bearing may not have been possible without removal of the bearing from the pulley.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.