ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 135294
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| Date: | Thursday 9 January 2003 |
| Time: | 15:00 |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350BA |
| Owner/operator: | Tex-air Helicopters Inc |
| Registration: | N22TV |
| MSN: | 1591 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1984 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 5390 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca Arriel 1B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Venice, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Main Pass 61A, GM |
| Venice, (11LA) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
During the initial descent, at 800 feet agl, the pilot felt a shudder and heard a noise from the helicopter. One of the passengers reported he observed the right baggage door was open and flapping. The helicopter began to yaw to the left, then started to spin, and the pilot inititated an autorotation to the water. Subsequently, the helicopter impacted the water and came to rest partially submerged. The left side float deployed; however, the right side float was not activated. Prior to the accident flight and the engine operating, the pilot dropped off a passenger, another passenger loaded his baggage in the right aft cargo compartment and boarded the helicopter. According to the pilot, the passenger had received a safety briefing regarding the operation of the helicopter's doors and latches. Examination of the helicopter revealed the lower forward latch had been closed; however, it did not engage and secure the door to the striker plate and fiberglass door frame. The tail rotor blades and vertical fin exhibited scratch marks and residual white material that was consistent with foreign object debris (FOD). The one-piece tail rotor drive shaft was sheared just aft of the splined portion of the drive shaft. The failure of the right float was not determined.
Probable Cause: The loss of tail rotor drive as a result of baggage coming in contact with the tail rotor blades after the aft cargo door was not secured. A contributing factor was the passenger's failure to follow the procedures for properly securing the helicopter's doors and latches.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20030121X00085&key=1
FAA register: 2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=22TV
4. https://flightaware.com/resources/airport/11LA/map/normal
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jul-2014 02:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 08-Dec-2017 18:01 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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