Jun 4, 2022
Accident
Substantial Fairfield, NJ
Injuries1 serious
Phase of Flight-
ConditionsVMC
OperationFAR 091
Probable Cause
The failure of maintenance personnel to properly secure the tail rotor crosshead drive plate and the failure of maintenance personnel, the maintenance pilot, and the accident pilot to detect the error, which led to the helicopter’s loss of tail rotor antitorque. Also causal was the pilot’s failure to maintain the helicopter’s airspeed at or above effective translational lift and perform a run-on landing, which resulted in a loss of control.
NTSB ERA22FA257