ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 244743
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| Date: | Sunday 8 November 2020 |
| Time: | 15:15 LT |
| Type: |  Bell 206A JetRanger |
| Owner/operator: | North Carolina State Highway Patrol |
| Registration: | N123NC |
| MSN: | 610 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1971 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 11447 hours |
| Engine model: | Rolls-Royce C20B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Wake County near NCSHP Helipad, Raleigh, NC -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Smithfield-Johnston County Airport, NC (KJNX) |
| Raleigh, NC | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
After flying for about 1.5 hours on a training flight, the pilot of the helicopter returned to the operator's hangar and aborted two approaches after encountering vortex ring state. He decided to land at a nearby facility to have the occupant disembark to reduce the gross weight of the helicopter, and to improve the power available margin. He departed and attempted a third approach to the hangar. At about 300 ft agl, the helicopter again encountered vortex ring state; however, there was not enough altitude to successfully complete the same recovery maneuver. The helicopter began losing altitude rapidly and while descending it impacted the tops of several trees. A main rotor blade then contacted the tail rotor drive shaft, which immediately resulted in a surge of the engine, followed by a yaw of the helicopter to the right. The pilot then conducted an autorotative landing into the middle of a nearby road. The helicopter's tailboom, main rotor, and fuselage were substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The pilot's loss of helicopter control after entry into vortex ring state, which resulted in main rotor blade contact with the tailboom, and impact with the ground.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB ERA21LA040
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N123NC
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Nov-2020 22:14 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 08-Nov-2020 23:11 | Geno | Updated [Time, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 08-Nov-2020 23:20 | Geno | Updated [Destination airport] |
| 09-Nov-2020 07:00 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 07-Jul-2022 18:18 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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