gittijan
21st Jul 2010, 05:42
Hats off to the pilot for saving the helicopter and himself, not so sure about his preflight though. Would have been interesting to measure the adrenalin level in his blood during the return flight.
It must have been an exciting scene when the pilot next saw one of engineers who worked on this.
CEN10IA397NTSB Identification: CEN10IA397
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Incident occurred Monday, July 12, 2010 in Gulf of Mexico, LA
Aircraft: BELL 206, registration: N523RL
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.
Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been
completed.
On July 12, 2010 at approximately 1430 central daylight time, a Bell 206 L4 helicopter, N523RL, experienced a flight control malfunction over the Gulf of Mexico approximately 62 miles south of Patterson, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and one passenger, who were the only occupants, were not injured. The helicopter was owned and operated by Rotorcraft Leasing LLC, Broussard,
Louisiana. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the incident and a company flight plan had been filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 passenger flight. The helicopter was attempting to land at a production platform in Eugene Island block 208-K after departing
another platform approximately one mile away.
While on final approach, the collective flight control became disconnected at the bell crank just below the collective arm on the transmission and the pilot executed a go-around. With no control of collective pitch, and with the power fixed at 45 percent torque, the pilot completed a "slow climb to 1,000 feet and 60 knots". The pilot flew the helicopter back to the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport (PTN) Patterson, Louisiana and made a high speed run-on landing on a 5,400 foot long runway. The FAA inspectors that responded to the scene and examined the helicopter reported that maintenance to replace the transmission
and main rotor hub had been completed within the past week.
The helicopter was moved to the operator’s hangar at the PTN airport for further
examination.
Index for Jul2010 | Index of months
It must have been an exciting scene when the pilot next saw one of engineers who worked on this.
CEN10IA397NTSB Identification: CEN10IA397
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Incident occurred Monday, July 12, 2010 in Gulf of Mexico, LA
Aircraft: BELL 206, registration: N523RL
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.
Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been
completed.
On July 12, 2010 at approximately 1430 central daylight time, a Bell 206 L4 helicopter, N523RL, experienced a flight control malfunction over the Gulf of Mexico approximately 62 miles south of Patterson, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and one passenger, who were the only occupants, were not injured. The helicopter was owned and operated by Rotorcraft Leasing LLC, Broussard,
Louisiana. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the incident and a company flight plan had been filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 passenger flight. The helicopter was attempting to land at a production platform in Eugene Island block 208-K after departing
another platform approximately one mile away.
While on final approach, the collective flight control became disconnected at the bell crank just below the collective arm on the transmission and the pilot executed a go-around. With no control of collective pitch, and with the power fixed at 45 percent torque, the pilot completed a "slow climb to 1,000 feet and 60 knots". The pilot flew the helicopter back to the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport (PTN) Patterson, Louisiana and made a high speed run-on landing on a 5,400 foot long runway. The FAA inspectors that responded to the scene and examined the helicopter reported that maintenance to replace the transmission
and main rotor hub had been completed within the past week.
The helicopter was moved to the operator’s hangar at the PTN airport for further
examination.
Index for Jul2010 | Index of months