A00-086 / 7229
	SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY ACCIDENT REPORT – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Date of Accident	11 August 2000		Time of Accident			1140Z
Aircraft Registration	ZS-HFE		Type of Aircraft			Hughes 369HS
Pilot-in-command Licence Type			Commercial			Licence Valid			Yes
Pilot-in-command Flying Experience			Total Flying Hours	1 946.5		Total Hours on Type			209.0
Type of Operation			Commercial Flight - Netstar Operation
Last point of departure			FACT (Cape Town International Airport)
Next point of intended landing			FACT
Location of the accident site with reference to easily defined geographical points (plus GPS readings if possible)
Sports Field – Secondary School Groenvlei - Lansdowne – Cape Town
Meteorological Information		Fine
Number of people on board		1 + 2	No. of people injured		None		No. of people killed			None
Synopsis
The pilot accompanied by two passengers of, which one was a Netstar Observer, was engaged in a commercial operation involving a Netstar, stolen vehicle locator/recovery operation. The weather was clear with unrestricted visibility with winds reported as variable, mainly out of the north at 5-8 knots. After being airborne for approximately 1.2 hours the pilot made a wide orbit over a suspect vehicle at a height of approximately 1 300 feet above ground level (AGL). The pilot felt a high frequency vibration through the directional control pedals and initiated an auto-rotational descent. The level of vibration felt through the airframe and tail rotor continued. At approximately 150 feet above the ground the pilot reported that the tail rotor system departed the aircraft and contacted the main rotor blades. The pilot experienced some difficulty in controlling the aircraft and stated that the aircraft had a tendency to want to “dip to the right”. At approximately 50 feet AGL, the pilot started to decelerate to reduce the rate of closure and applied collective to cushion the landing prior to touchdown. The aircraft started a right-hand spin and after approximately 90° of yaw, the pilot retarded the throttle to idle. The aircraft continued a full 360° yaw to the right and touched down in an approximate 30° right roll attitude. On ground contact, the aircraft yawed an additional 90° to the right as the skid gear assembly collapsed causing the aircraft to roll over on its right side. The pilot sustained a cut to his right hand with none of the other occupants being injured.
Probable Cause
When all the evidence is put together, the overview of the sequence was most probably: 1. Undetermined precipitating event on missing half of the tail rotor blade. 2. Resulting imbalance overloads the failed fork bore, liberating one side of the fork bolt. 3. The fork bolt bends and twists to failure. 4. The pitch change links fail as the tail rotor leaves the helicopter. 5. The helicopter became progressively unstable, necessitating a forced landing. 6. The instability resulted in the pilot being unable to execute a successful auto rotation landing, instead landing hard on the right skid, which collapsed before the helicopter rolled onto it right side.