McDonnell Douglas Heli 369E N551CR

Summary

On 20 November 2009 at about 20:20 local time, a McDonnell Douglas Heli 369E registered N551CR, operated by K & S Helicopters Inc, was involved in an accident near Kahuku, Hawaii, United States. 5 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

20 November 2009 at 20:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Kahuku, Hawaii, United States

Nearest airport

Turtle Bay (HI58)

Coordinates

21.7047, -158.0056

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas Heli 369E

Registration

N551CR

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

K & S Helicopters Inc

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kahuku → Turtle Bay

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10LA060

Nobody was injured.

The fatigue failure of the landing gear strut and maintenance personnel’s failure to perform an adequate inspection of the landing gear.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter was positioned on a landing platform. Four passengers had boarded the helicopter for a sightseeing tour. The pilot brought the engine up to flight idle, preparing for takeoff, when the left rear landing skid strut collapsed. The helicopter tilted to the left rear, and the tail skid and vertical stabilizer struck the ground and sustained damage. The tail rotor blades also struck the ground. The pilot shut down the engine and stopped the rotor using the rotor brake. A postaccident examination of the left rear landing gear strut revealed that the strut fractured at the bolt hole where the strut was attached to the drag brace. The struts had been inspected 13 days (30.2 flight hours) prior to the accident as part of a 100-hour inspection in accordance with the manufacturer’s maintenance inspection program. Examination of the broken strut (left rear) revealed that it fractured due to a fatigue crack that initiated from the circumference of one of the bolt holes used to secure the strut to the drag brace. The intact strut (right rear) was also examined and found to have fatigue cracks growing outwards from the circumference of the two bolt holes used to secure the strut to the drag brace. Additionally, the diameters of the bolt holes were larger than the maximum allowed as outlined in the maintenance manual. The right strut was installed on an exemplar airframe in order to determine if any play could be identified in the strut. The 100-hour landing gear inspection was performed and the strut exhibited play, which according to the manufacturer’s maintenance manual requires removal and additional inspections.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.