Bell 206B N60EA

Summary

On 6 July 2002 at about 14:45 local time, a Bell 206B registered N60EA, operated by Phoenix Precision Air LLC, was involved in an accident near Three Rivers, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

6 July 2002 at 14:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Three Rivers, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

41.9394, -85.6310

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N60EA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Phoenix Precision Air LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Three Rivers → Goshen

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02LA181

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter sustained substantial damage during an emergency landing after liftoff. The pilot reported that a normal takeoff was made to the southwest, and upon reaching an altitude of 75 feet, he began a turn to the south and noticed that the aircraft was not responding to the turn. When the helicopter began to accelerate forward it started to spin to the right and the tail rotor lost all effectiveness. The helicopter spun 3 and 1/2 revolutions and the pilot then maneuvered it to an open pasture for the emergency landing. He lowered the collective bringing the aircraft to the ground for a level touchdown with no forward motion. The pilot stated that a local airport reported a wind from the southeast at 4 knots, and prior to the departure the wind was "non existent." No anomalies were found with the helicopter or its flight control systems that were determined to exist prior to impact. According to the FAA, a loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE) is "not related to an equipment or maintenance malfunction and may occur in all single-rotor helicopters at airspeeds less than 30 knots. It is the result of the tail rotor not providing adequate thrust to maintain directional control, and is usually caused by either certain wind azimuths (directions) while hovering, or by an insufficient tail rotor thrust for a given power setting at higher altitudes."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.