www.brantly.info

Accident report shows this aircraft was owned by the factory. Here's the report from the FAA's web site:


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** Report created 4/22/2004 Record 1 **
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IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 9030Z Make/Model: BRB2 Description: B-2 BRANTLY
Date: 04/21/2004 Time: 1545

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: WICHITA FALLS State: TX Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT CRASHED AND ROLLED OVER AFTER LOSING TAIL ROTOR AUTHORITY, ACFT WAS
DESTROYED, 9 MILES SW OF KICKAPOO AIRPARK, WICHITA FALLS, TX

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: UNK



OTHER DATA
Activity: Training Phase: Unknown Operation: General Aviation

Departed: UNK Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: UNK Flt Plan: NONE Wx Briefing: N
Last Radio Cont: UNK
Last Clearance: UNK

FAA FSDO: FORT WORTH, TX (SW19) Entry date: 04/22/2004

N9030Z is Kevin Hynes ship. I will call Kevin and try to find out more. Glad to see that there were no injuries.

Kevin and his student walked away from the crash and went to a Chinese Buffet afterwards! Both are fine. Kevin does not want to speculate on exactly what went wrong at this stage, pending the investigation.

Here's the current NTSB report. Hope we find out some day what happened to the T/R authority. The report says there was no damage to the tail boom or tail rotor.

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NTSB Identification: FTW04LA111
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, April 21, 2004 in Holliday, TX
Aircraft: Brantly Helicopter B-2B, registration: N9030Z
Injuries: 2 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On April 21, 2004, at 1045 central daylight time, a Brantly B-2B helicopter, N9030Z, sustained substantial damage after it made a forced landing to a field near Holliday, Texas, after it experienced a partial loss of tail rotor authority while maneuvering. The airline transport pilot (ATP) and the commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. The helicopter was owned by Brantly International Incorporated, Vernon, Texas, and operated by the airline transport pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight originated at Kickapoo Downtown Airport (T47), near Wichita Falls, Texas, about 1010.

In a written statement, the ATP said he was providing flight instruction to the commercial pilot when the accident occurred. While the commercial pilot was performing normal climbs and descents at a constant airspeed of 60 miles per hour (mph), the engine/airframe began to vibrate, followed by a "quick, almost jerk" yawing motion. The ATP took control of the helicopter, initiated a power reduction, and started a descent. He reported that he "put the collective on the floor " and descended about 60 mph. During the descent, the yaw control felt sluggish, and the helicopter slowly made a right turn as they descended. As the helicopter approached the ground, the ATP flared to dissipate speed. As he added collective in the flare, the helicopter continued to turn to the right, and when he applied left anti torque pedal it did not arrest the situation. As he leveled the helicopter to land, he closed the throttle, added more collective, and contacted the ground in a sideward motion. Subsequently, the helicopter rolled on to its left side.

The commercial pilot reported a similar account as the ATP. He stated that while maneuvering about 500 feet above the ground, he felt a low frequency vibration below his seat (right side) followed by an uncommanded right turn, which could not be corrected when he applied left anti torque pedal. The ATP took control of the helicopter and attempted to set it down. As the helicopter approached the ground, it continued to turn to the right approximately 180 degrees. The ATP flared the helicopter about 4 to 6 feet above the ground but, it was drifting to the left and turning slightly to the right when it impacted the ground and subsequently rolled over.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector performed an on-scene examination of the helicopter. He said the helicopter came to rest on its left side, and two of the three main rotor blades were broken at mid-span, and the other blade exhibited damage. The tail boom and rotor were not damaged.

The helicopter wreckage was retained for further examination.

The airline transport pilot's most recent FAA second class medical was issued on March 29, 2004. At that time he reported a total of 15,000 flight hours.

The commercial pilot's last FAA second class medical was issued on February 6, 2003. At that time he reported a total of 3,800 flight hours.

Weather at Kickapoo Downtown Airport, near Wichita Falls, Texas, at 1052, was wind from 200 degrees at 9 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, and few clouds at 15,000 feet. The temperature was 73 degrees Fahrenheit and the dewpoint was 61 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wow... both pilots were pretty experienced. I suppose the forward airspeed would disappate any LTE condition, so I wonder what the root cause was? It's as if a piece of cellophane covered the TR and then blew off after they were on the ground (an exageration, of course).