Accident Summary
On December 27, 2023, at 1259 eastern standard time, a Hughes 369E helicopter, registration N757TB, was substantially damaged in an accident near Miami, Florida. The pilot was fatally injured, and the passenger, who was the pilot's daughter, sustained minor injuries. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Flight History
According to the passenger, the flight's purpose was to drop off her brother at Page Field Airport (FMY) in Fort Myers, Florida. The helicopter departed Miami Executive Airport (TMB) around 1030 and arrived at FMY without issues. After approximately 30 minutes on the ground, they departed for the return flight to TMB. The passenger reported that the flight home was normal until the helicopter was about 5 miles west of TMB, when it yawed to the right and began spinning out of control. The helicopter then impacted the water, the passenger's door opened, and she exited and swam to shore.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The helicopter was located at the bottom of a canal at a water depth of about 20 ft. Damage to the underside was consistent with a near-vertical descent into the water. The tail boom was fractured forward of the vertical stabilizer and was found about 450 ft from the main wreckage. Flight control continuity was observed to all primary flight controls through the fractured tail boom.
Post-Accident Examination
The engine remained attached to its mount struts, with the aft strut on the left side mount fractured at the rod end connection with the strut tube. Rotating the engine power turbine resulted in rotation of the engine-to-transmission driveshaft and the main rotor head. The overrunning clutch functioned in both drive and freewheeling directions. A borescope inspection of the combustion liner, nozzle shield, and first-stage gas producer turbine nozzle and blades found no anomalies.
The main rotor and main transmission remained installed, with all head components intact and no evidence of separation or fractures. The main rotor blades were cut near their root ends for recovery but showed no fragmentation and were full length. Chordwise deformation was noted, with two blades exhibiting significant chordwise and downward deformation near their roots. One blade had splayed upper and lower skins at the trailing edge tip end.
The aft portion of the tail boom, including the tail rotor and T-tail stabilizer, was fractured and separated about 57 inches aft of the tail boom-to-main fuselage attachment and about 25 inches forward of the tail rotor gearbox attachment. The tail rotor gearbox remained attached to the separated tail boom, and the tail rotor blades were installed with no anomalous damage except from submersion. Rotating the tail rotor produced corresponding rotation of the tail rotor drive shaft within the separated empennage. The tail rotor drive shaft was fractured at the tail boom fracture point. Rotating the tail rotor drive shaft also rotated the main rotor, confirming continuity of the tail rotor drive from the main transmission with no binding.