Accident Details
On May 27, 2011, about 1800 central daylight time, a Bell OH-58C helicopter, registration N82772, operated by the Bay County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, was substantially damaged while hover-taxiing out of a hangar at the former Panama City-Bay County International Airport (PFN) in Panama City, Florida. The certificated commercial pilot and the observer incurred minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local public use flight, which was departing on an aerial observation mission.
Sequence of Events
According to the pilot, he was hover taxiing the helicopter straight out of the hangar about 3 feet above the ground. When the helicopter was almost out, except for possibly the last few feet, the pilot heard a loud bang. He started lowering the collective to land, but the helicopter began rotating and he had no control. The helicopter ended up on its left side, facing 180 degrees from the original direction of flight.
The onboard observer stated that while the helicopter was exiting the hangar and was mostly out or had just cleared it, she heard a "loud thud" from what sounded like something striking the top of the helicopter. She started to turn toward the pilot when the helicopter began abruptly rotating, then impacted the ground on its left side. The observer confirmed that the helicopter had been taxiing straight out at the time at what she considered was a lower than normal taxi height.
Damage and Scene
The helicopter came to rest on its left side, with the main rotor blades separated from the rotor head and impact-damaged. The tail boom was twisted about 120 degrees, almost upside down, and the tail rotor drive shaft within the boom was separated. Rotational scoring of the tail rotor drive shaft aft of the separation point was noted in photographs.
Photographs of the hangar door frame showed the bottom side of an overhead steel I-beam with a lip of heavy aluminum covering the outside corner. Remnants of electrical conduit, normally secured above the hangar door frame, were present, with some conduit drooped below the I-beam and appearing separated and coiled near damage to the door frame.
Scrape marks on the underside of the I-beam were observed in several sets, none perpendicular to the beam. The first set was an estimated 2 to 3 feet right of the hangar door center, angled about 30 degrees right. Another set was 2 to 3 feet right of the first, with the aluminum lip deformed slightly upward. A third set, 3 to 4 feet right of the second, had scraping at the inside edge that disappeared and reappeared where the aluminum lip was torn downward. The order of the marks could not be determined.
The vertical fin exhibited scraping on its top and leading edge, with an almost horizontal line several inches from the top. The tail rotor blades were pristine. The old hangar had been vandalized, with vandals removing conduit from several areas. The pilot reported no preexisting mechanical anomalies; when asked to turn the tail rotor to ensure continuity through the gear boxes, he reported everything appeared to turn normally.
The Birmingham Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) did not respond to the accident scene.