Steele SAFARI N13MA

Summary

On 4 August 2005 at about 14:30 local time, a Steele SAFARI registered N13MA, operated by Kurt Mason, was involved in an accident near Leavenworth, Washington, United States. One person was 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

4 August 2005 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Leavenworth, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.6292, -120.6506

Aircraft

Steele SAFARI

Registration

N13MA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Kurt Mason

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cashmere → Everett

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA05LA163

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the tail rotor drive shaft during cruise flight. Factors include soft, grassy terrain at the location where the pilot executed the autorotational landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise flight about 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot heard a loud grinding sound and felt a significant vibration in the airframe of the helicopter. The aircraft then swung to the right, so the pilot elected to reduce the throttle and perform an autorotation to a nearby open field. During the attempted autorotational landing on the soft grassy terrain, the aircraft touched down, bounced back into the air, turned about 300 degrees, and then touched down a second time. During the second touchdown, the aircraft rolled over onto its left side. During the accident sequence, the main rotor blades flexed downward and came in contact with the tail boom. When the pilot inspected the helicopter at the scene, he found that all of its components, except for the tail rotor drive shaft, were there at that one location. Although he searched the local area for the tail rotor drive shaft, he was unable to locate it. The drive shaft was later found by a local resident several hundred feet from the location where the helicopter touched down. After being recovered to a hangar, the aircraft was inspected by an FAA Airworthiness Inspector, who determined that the tail rotor drive shaft had failed in cruise flight at a location near where it attaches to the main rotor transmission assembly. The reason for the failure of the shaft could not be positively determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.