Rotorway EXEC 152 N7182Z

Summary

On 10 June 1996 at about 19:00 local time, a Rotorway EXEC 152 registered N7182Z was involved in an accident near Gretna, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 June 1996 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Gretna, Virginia, United States

Coordinates

36.9510, -79.3608

Aircraft

Rotorway EXEC 152

Registration

N7182Z

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD96LA094

Nobody was injured.

failure of the bearing assembly shaft insert inside the main rotor shaft. Related factors are the jammed rotorcraft flight control which restricted the pilot's ability to control the helicopter and resulted in a hard touchdown.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that about three minutes into the flight something in the rear of the helicopter popped very loud. The helicopter was about 150 agl, over open fields, when he heard the noise. The aircraft hit the ground on the skids, the main rotor blades hit the tailboom and helicopter came to rest about 180 degrees from the initial direction of travel. Examination of the wreckage found that the bearing assembly shaft insert had separated inside of the main rotor shaft. Examination of the maintenance records found that the main rotor shaft assembly had accumulated about 100 hours at the time of the accident and had been replaced in January 1995. The manufacturer stated that the new assemblies replacement interval should be every 350 hours.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.