Burson REVOLUTION MINI 500 N418MB

Summary

On 4 October 1998 at about 22:15 local time, a Burson REVOLUTION MINI 500 registered N418MB was involved in an accident near Moorpark, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 October 1998 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Moorpark, California, United States

Coordinates

34.1897, -119.1707

Aircraft

Burson REVOLUTION MINI 500

Registration

N418MB

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

LAX99LA004

1 person died.

The improper use of the cyclic flight control by the pilot, which resulted in low g flight load condition, which resulted in rotor disk divergence (mast bumping), and the main rotor blade striking and severing the tail boom.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter did not return from an afternoon local area flight and the wreckage was located early the following morning. Both main rotor blades, the tail rotor assembly, the tail boom, and a section of the tail rotor drive shaft were found in a debris field approximately 1/8 mile from the fuselage wreckage. Both main rotor blades separated from the hub outboard of the root doubler and exhibited leading edge damage near the tip and downward bending. Additionally, the 'A' blade was bent smoothly aft approximately 30 degrees over its span. The tail boom was separated from the fuselage approximately 2 feet forward of the tail rotor gearbox. The separation exhibited a diagonal slicing appearance from upper forward to lower aft on the boom. The tail rotor drive shaft was separated at the same fuselage station as the tail boom, and the shaft had a dented appearance which resembled the leading edge radius of the main rotor blade. The main rotor mast exhibited a mast-bumping dent on one side of the mast at the hub attachment but no similar dent on the opposite side. Examination of the aircraft did not reveal any mechanical malfunction of the engine or flight control system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.