Bell 430 N430CV

Summary

On 11 July 2005 at about 14:30 local time, a Bell 430 registered N430CV was involved in an accident near Gulf of Mexico, United States. 3 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

11 July 2005 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Gulf of Mexico, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Bell 430

Registration

N430CV

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Venice → Gulf of Mexico

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW05LA180

Nobody was injured.

The helicopter's tail rotor blade's contact with an unknown object during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 17,291-hour commercial helicopter pilot was on short final approach to a helipad on an offshore platform when he heard and felt a "bump" in the flight controls, followed by vibrations in the tail rotor pedals and a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. The pilot immediately landed the helicopter and preformed a normal engine cool-down. Inspection of the helipad found no evidence of a tail rotor strike. A post-accident inspection of the studs, that hold the tail rotor gearbox to the tail boom, revealed signs of low-cycle bending fatigue. Additional inspection under a microscope of the studs, showed evidence of high loads during bending. The 90-degree tail rotor gear-box teeth, displayed typical wear pattern and did not show any sign of misalignment. One of the tail-rotor blades was heavily damaged and missing a portion of the outer blade. The remaining end of the blade was slightly torn and contained gray paint or material at the leading edge. The material was later examined, and found to contain a high concentration of zinc. Examination of paint chips in the impact area on the vertical fin showed no zinc in the paint. The object that impacted the tail rotor blade could not be identified or located during the course of the investigation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.