Helicopter Pilot Loses Tail Rotor Control: What Would You Do?
Overview
In this video, we look at actual cockpit footage of a loss of tail rotor control incident in Papua New Guinea, from the onset of the emergency all the way to the ground.
We also examine video footage and NTSB final reports from two other recent Bell 407 loss of tail rotor control accidents, in New Jersey in 2022 and South Carolina in 2023. We break down all three events, what happened, how the pilots responded, and the lessons we can take from them.
Using graphics and 3D animations, we take a deeper look at the tail rotor control failure. We look at manufacturer guidance, along with helicopter and simulator training footage showing how pilots can prepare for these types of emergencies.
Topics include:
- Loss of tail rotor control recognition and response
- Manufacturer guidance
- Hazardous attitudes
- Helicopter and simulator emergency training
- Memory aids
- Preflight inspection considerations
- Lessons from three real Bell 407 events
Chapters
- 00:00 Start
- 01:05 What would you do?
- 02:01 It depends…
- 02:39 FAA Hazardous Attitudes
- 03:09 3 factors affecting yaw
- 04:39 In-flight detective work
- 05:42 What did the pilot do?
- 06:55 Memory aid
- 09:01 Why did the emergency happen?
- 10:03 New Jersey 407 loss of tail rotor control accident
- 12:33 South Carolina 407 loss of tail rotor control accident
- 14:00 Takeaway – get lower before slower
- 14:25 Bell 407 flight manual
- 15:11 AW119 flight manual
- 15:25 Bell 407 tail rotor emergency procedures
- 17:21 Touchdown speed
- 18:00 Closing throttle completely
- 18:18 Stuck pedal training
- 18:48 Use of simulators
- 19:05 USHST H-SE 123 & NTSB SA-031
- 19:25 Additional variables
- 19:98 Other tail rotor emergency videos
- 20:18 FoundOnPreflight.com
- 21:18 Takeaway points and summary
- 23:00 Outro
Links
Here are all the links referenced in this video:
- NTSB ERA22FA257 June 2022 New Jersey 407 Loss of Tail Rotor Control https://tinyurl.com/NTSB-ERA22FA257
- NTSB ERA23LA319 August 2023 South Carolina 407 Loss of Tail Rotor Control https://tinyurl.com/NTSB-ERA23LA319
- USHST Helicopter Safety Enhancement (H-SE) 123: Simulation Training for Aviation Decision Making https://ushst.org/h-se-details/
- NTSB Safety Alert SA-031: Safety Through Helicopter Simulators https://www.ntsb.gov/Advocacy/safety-alerts/
- Helicopter Institute Stuck Pedal video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0j5IDOQvQ
- Helicopter Tail Rotor Emergencies and Malfunctions Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSR8bJkvT_BI
- Papua New Guinea tail rotor control failure on Found On Preflight – https://foundonpreflight.com/finding/bell-407-loss-of-tail-rotor-control-video/
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