N199BD

On August 23, 2024, about 1330 central daylight time, a restricted category Arrow Falcon Exporters OH-58A helicopter, N199BD was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Newton, Texas. The pilot was fatally injured and one person on the ground received minor injuries. The helicopter was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight.

According to the load truck operator, the helicopter was landing on a load truck platform to reload liquid chemical herbicide at the time of the accident. The pilot landed uneventfully on the load truck platform about 20 times for reloading on the day of the accident. The load truck operator stated that on the accident landing attempt, the helicopter landed too far forward on the load truck platform and against the L-bracket stop rail. The helicopter rolled off the back of the truck and impacted the ground inverted. The load truck operator stated that the right skid touched down, but the left skid may not have ever touched the platform. The load truck operator was knocked off the back of the truck and received minor injuries. He reported that the helicopter’s engine sounded normal throughout the accident sequence.

The helicopter was equipped with single point connections on the right side for reloading fuel and liquid product. The platform was oriented to allow the helicopter to land with its right side toward the aft end of the truck to allow the load truck operator to reach the single-point reloading connections (Figure 1). The reloading was conducted while the helicopter engine was running. This type of operation is commonly referred to as hot-loading. The load truck operator reported that sometimes the pilot would land in a position that was out of his reach to connect the hoses and the pilot would have to reposition the helicopter on the platform.

Figure 1. Load truck and platform

An onsite examination of the helicopter revealed substantial damage to the helicopter's main rotors, tailboom, tail rotor driveshaft and fuselage. Flight control continuity from the cyclic and collective to the main rotor swash plate was confirmed with no anomalies found. The tail rotor had continuity from the anti-torque pedals to the aft cabin bellcrank. The bellcrank assembly was separated from its fuselage attach point. The flight control tube to the tail rotor was fractured in multiple areas consistent with impact damage to the tailcone and overload. The tail rotor blades remained attached to the tail rotor hub and moved freely when rotated by hand. The tail rotor driveshaft was fractured in multiple places consistent with overload but was turned by hand from the engine to the tail rotor with no anomalies noted. Examination of the right skid revealed horizontal scratching consistent with contact with the load truck L-brackets (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Horizontal scratching on right skid

An examination of the engine revealed rotational scoring and torsional bending consistent with power production at the time of impact. The internal rotating components of the turbine engine rotated freely by hand. No anomalies were observed with the engine that would have precluded its normal operation.

The end of the load truck platform had L-brackets that acted as a physical stop. The brackets extended about 1.5 inches above the platform (Figure 3). The L-brackets had paint transfer consistent with the landing gear skid.

Figure 3. L-brackets with paint transfer.