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Helicopter loses tail rotor effectiveness during out of ground effect hover and recovers after 4 rotations.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 719064 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200612 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : zzz.airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Altitude | agl bound lower : 600 agl bound upper : 700 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | Mixed |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | tower : skbo.tower |
| Operator | general aviation : personal |
| Make Model Name | Jet Ranger Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | climbout other |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | other |
| Function | flight crew : single pilot |
| Qualification | pilot : commercial pilot : private |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 26 flight time total : 603 flight time type : 18 |
| ASRS Report | 719064 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | other anomaly |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | Flight Crew Human Performance Weather Aircraft |
| Primary Problem | Flight Crew Human Performance |
Narrative:
Aircraft was approaching an out of ground effect hover in orbit approximately 600-700 ft AGL. As aircraft came around an orbit to south; wind out of the south to the north caused a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. Aircraft began to spin and evasive maneuvers were implemented by dumping the collective and pushing forward to regain relative wind across the rotor blades. Once the spin was recovered; collective was added to maintain lift and occurrence was concluded. Visual examination of aircraft and inspection of components show no exceedances to aircraft. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated that his attention was outside the cockpit as he approached a hover. The helicopter began to rotate and the tail rotor was ineffective. After about 4 turns; control was regained. He does not believe that any mistakes were made nor did the helicopter have any malfunctioning components.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: HELI LOSES TAIL ROTOR EFFECTIVENESS DURING OUT OF GND EFFECT HOVER AND RECOVERS AFTER 4 ROTATIONS.
Narrative: ACFT WAS APCHING AN OUT OF GND EFFECT HOVER IN ORBIT APPROX 600-700 FT AGL. AS ACFT CAME AROUND AN ORBIT TO S; WIND OUT OF THE S TO THE N CAUSED A LOSS OF TAIL ROTOR EFFECTIVENESS. ACFT BEGAN TO SPIN AND EVASIVE MANEUVERS WERE IMPLEMENTED BY DUMPING THE COLLECTIVE AND PUSHING FORWARD TO REGAIN RELATIVE WIND ACROSS THE ROTOR BLADES. ONCE THE SPIN WAS RECOVERED; COLLECTIVE WAS ADDED TO MAINTAIN LIFT AND OCCURRENCE WAS CONCLUDED. VISUAL EXAM OF ACFT AND INSPECTION OF COMPONENTS SHOW NO EXCEEDANCES TO ACFT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THAT HIS ATTN WAS OUTSIDE THE COCKPIT AS HE APCHED A HOVER. THE HELI BEGAN TO ROTATE AND THE TAIL ROTOR WAS INEFFECTIVE. AFTER ABOUT 4 TURNS; CTL WAS REGAINED. HE DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT ANY MISTAKES WERE MADE NOR DID THE HELI HAVE ANY MALFUNCTIONING COMPONENTS.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.