On August 23, 1989, a Bell 47G (registration N955B) operated by Esteves, Arturo was involved in an aviation accident near Ponce, PR. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: FAILURE OF THE AFT TAIL ROTOR DRIVE SHAFT. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive; 1 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
During a cross-country flight, a student pilot experienced an aft tail rotor drive shaft failure at approximately 40 feet AGL. The helicopter began spinning to the right; the pilot closed the throttle, stopping the spin. Attempting to cushion the landing with collective pitch, the pilot ran out of pitch at around 10 feet, leading to a hard touchdown that damaged the tail rotor and tail boom.
Incident Overview
A student pilot was on approach to land during a cross-country flight when the aft tail rotor drive shaft (part number 47-644-187) failed at about 40 feet above ground level. The failure occurred just forward of the 90-degree gearbox.
Sequence of Events
Following the drive shaft failure, the helicopter began to spin to the right. The pilot responded by closing the throttle, which caused the spinning to stop. The pilot then pulled up on the collective to cushion the landing but ran out of collective pitch at approximately 10 feet above the ground. Subsequently, the helicopter touched down hard.
Damage
The hard landing resulted in damage to the tail rotor and tail boom.