Pilot inappropriately flies a helicopter; albeit only a couple of feet in the air; to the maintenanc...

Attributes
ACN	823516
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Kiowa/Kiowa Warrior/Combat Scout
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Parked Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Vertical Stabilizer/Fin
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 95 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 400
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR

Narrative:

I was called by the lead pilot to taxi an aircraft from the parking area at the terminal to the main entrance pad at or in front of the maintenance hangar. I did a brief inspection of the helicopter; asked about the logbook and was told there was no need because the taxi was only to perform maintenance and I did not need it. I noticed the aircraft did not have the tail vertical fin and thought that it was the reason for the maintenance required. Then very carefully I completed the taxi at about 1 or 2 ft and very slow to the maintenance pad; thinking that I was helping the maintenance people the best way I could because at no time I saw an aog tag or had any problems for the control of the helicopter nor did it ever come close to etl. Later I reported all of this to my lead pilot.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot inappropriately flies a helicopter; albeit only a couple of feet in the air; to the maintenance facility. The helicopter was not airworthy due to a missing vertical stabilizer.

Narrative: I was called by the Lead Pilot to taxi an aircraft from the parking area at the terminal to the main entrance pad at or in front of the Maintenance hangar. I did a brief inspection of the helicopter; asked about the logbook and was told there was no need because the taxi was only to perform maintenance and I did not need it. I noticed the aircraft did not have the tail vertical fin and thought that it was the reason for the maintenance required. Then very carefully I completed the taxi at about 1 or 2 FT and very slow to the maintenance pad; thinking that I was helping the Maintenance people the best way I could because at no time I saw an AOG tag or had any problems for the control of the helicopter nor did it ever come close to ETL. Later I reported all of this to my Lead Pilot.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.