Bell 206B N27574

Summary

On 31 May 2022 at about 21:16 local time, a Bell 206B registered N27574, operated by Utility Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Cameron, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 May 2022 at 21:16

Classification

Accident

Location

Cameron, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Cameron Muni Airpark (T35)

Coordinates

30.8790, -96.9722

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N27574

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Utility Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Georgetown → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA219

2 people had minor injuries.

The flight crew not maintaining lateral control of the helicopter during hovering operation which resulted in a dynamic rollover.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The operator reported that the flight instructor was working with a student on hovering the helicopter. The operator reported that the instructor used a method which transferred one control at a time to the student to familiarize the student with the use of that control and to not overwhelm the student by transferring all controls at once. The instructor first transferred pedal control, while maintaining cyclic and collective controls, with good success. He then did the same with the student commanding collective only, and then with cyclic only, while the instructor retained control of the other two controls. Ultimately the student was given control of cyclic and collective, and shortly thereafter the helicopter began to drift to the left. The instructor attempted to make a control input to correct the drift, but the helicopter rolled to the left and the rotor system of the helicopter impacted the ground, followed by the helicopter fuselage coming to rest on is left side. The helicopter received substantial damage to its fuselage and rotor system. The operator reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter prior to the accident that would have precluded normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.