Bell 407 N175PA

Summary

On 16 April 2000 at about 19:08 local time, a Bell 407 registered N175PA, operated by Papillon Airways Inc., was involved in an accident near Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States. 6 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 April 2000 at 19:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

36.0303, -112.0204

Aircraft

Bell 407

Registration

N175PA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Papillon Airways Inc.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00LA156

Nobody was injured.

The failure and subsequent disintegration of the oil cooler fan forward hanger bearing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

About 5 minutes after takeoff, while in cruise flight, the pilot felt a few short 'clunks' and then heard grinding noise and felt violent shaking. The pilot elected to perform a precautionary, autorotative, off-airport landing. During the landing flare, the tail rotor and tail stinger contacted the ground. The tail rotor blades were damaged, the stinger broken, and the tail rotor gearbox was fractured. The vibration that the pilot felt was traced to a failed bearing at the oil cooler fan forward hanger. The bearing was sent to the helicopter manufacturer for examination; however, a fracture mode could not be identified due to damage to the fracture surfaces. An airworthiness directive applied to the bearing and was complied with 11 flight hours prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.