UH-1
From what I understand, N126AC suffered a complete separation of the tail gear box and tail rotor assy.The TGB and T/R have not been recovered. The aircraft was inside 10 mins flying time from the destination. Slight vibration felt prior to no vibration then violent pitch down of the nose. The pilot entered Auto guided the aircraft towards a road, the landing gear was broken (or collapsed) on impact the aircraft rolled, the aircraft was destroyed, all on board survived.
I think the Capt demonstrated excellent, procedure and presence of mind to "steer" the aircraft to a suitable site.
This info is 2nd hand from a reliable source. Any other comments on loss of tail components on UH-1 series would make interesting reading.
Last edited by withoutwings; 29th April 2006 at 10:30.