Bell 206L-3 N38903

Summary

On 7 July 2000 at about 21:00 local time, a Bell 206L-3 registered N38903 was involved in an accident near Logan, Utah, United States. 2 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

7 July 2000 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Logan, Utah, United States

Coordinates

41.7207, -111.8400

Aircraft

Bell 206L-3

Registration

N38903

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00LA124

Nobody was injured.

in-flight collision with a jacket, which blew out of the helicopter because the left passenger door was not properly secured prior to takeoff. A contributing factor was the pilot's failure to ensure the door was properly closed prior to takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Following maintenance on the helicopter, the pilot was conducting a test flight. Takeoff was made with the left passenger door unlatched. When this was pointed out to the pilot by radio, he commenced a precautionary approach/landing to close the door. During the approach, the pilot felt and heard a bang followed by a vibration and rattling noise. This subsided and the pilot analyzed a loss of tail rotor control. He conducted a forced landing and the helicopter rolled on its left side during the landing. The main rotor blades and rotor head separated and the main rotor blades and tail rotor struck the tail boom. At the time of the flight, a jacket with red and black stenciled letters on the back was lying on the passenger seat. It was not found following the accident. Examination of the helicopter following the accident revealed a torsional fracture of the number 4 tail rotor drive shaft section and a bend in the number 5 section. Also, the tail rotor blades had red paint transfer, and one had a dent in the leading edge, and was bent near the blade root. Analysis of the paint transfer revealed it did not come from the jacket lettering. Parts of the helicopter were painted red and the red part of the tail boom exhibited paint transfer and slap marks. The tail rotor blades did not exhibit rotational impact damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.