Schweizer 269C-1 N61425

Summary

On 11 July 2008 at about 16:32 local time, a Schweizer 269C-1 registered N61425, operated by Aerial Resources LLC, was involved in an accident near Northumberland, Virginia, 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

11 July 2008 at 16:32

Classification

Accident

Location

Northumberland, Virginia, United States

Coordinates

37.7689, -76.3072

Aircraft

Schweizer 269C-1

Registration

N61425

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Aerial Resources LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Saluda → Saluda

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA254

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate remedial action after an inadvertent encounter with loss of tail rotor effectiveness.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter was full of fuel and hovering 100 feet above ground level when it encountered "a pretty good headwind" that registered 20 knots on the airspeed indicator. The helicopter shuddered, the nose yawed to the right, and the pilot's application of the left anti-torque pedal "had no effect" as the helicopter began to rotate around the main rotor mast. The pilot initially increased collective pitch to climb up and away from the trees. The pilot then applied forward cyclic, which lowered the nose of the helicopter and increased forward airspeed. This slowed the rate of rotation during the descent, but upon ground contact the landing skid "caught" and the helicopter rolled onto its side. Examination of global positioning system (GPS) track data extracted from the GPS unit on board the helicopter revealed an "S" shaped track that eventually oriented the helicopter into a quartering-tailwind condition above the crash site. The pilot was asked how long the helicopter was in the 100-foot hover before he "ran out of left pedal," and the left pedal input lost effectiveness. He replied, that "I didn't run out of pedal, I just didn't have any left or right." Examination of the wreckage revealed no preimpact mechanical deficiencies. According to Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular (AC) 90-95, "When maneuvering between hover and 30 knots: (1) Avoid tailwinds. If loss of translational lift occurs, it will result in an increased high power demand and an additional anti-torque requirement. (2) Avoid out of ground effect (OGE) hover and high power demand situations, such as low-speed downwind turns. (3) Be especially aware of wind direction and velocity when hovering in winds of about 8-12 knots (especially OGE). There are no strong indicators to the pilot of a reduction of translation lift... (6) Stay vigilant to power and wind conditions."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.