Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 N5038F

Summary

On 31 July 2012 at about 15:20 local time, a Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 registered N5038F, operated by Harrison Timothy Bruce, was involved in an accident near Cody, Wyoming, United States. 4 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

31 July 2012 at 15:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Cody, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

44.4172, -109.1381

Aircraft

Fairchild Hiller FH-1100

Registration

N5038F

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1969

Engines

1

Operator

Harrison Timothy Bruce

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cody → Cody

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12LA341

Nobody was injured.

The failure of a tail rotor driveshaft coupling due to fatigue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while in cruise flight, the rear of the helicopter suddenly began to vibrate. He performed an autorotation to a field, and the helicopter landed hard. The tailboom and main transmission mounts were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that a tail rotor driveshaft coupling had split in half, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor drive. Postaccident examination of the tail rotor driveshaft coupling revealed that the coupling failure was initiated by fatigue cracking. A complete history of the part was not available; therefore, the total time in service of the part could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.