Originally published 6/05/2024
We are the owners of the tail boom referenced in this feed attached are a few more pictures of our failure. The back story is we were conducting external load operations (pouring concrete) and while we were picking up a load the pilot heard a bang “like something fell on the floor”. He came into a hover to see if he could figure out what happened. The ground crew radioed and asked if he was having a problem. He said the heard a bang and was trying to figure out what it was. The ground crew told him they also heard it and were not sure what it was. The pilot elected to land and have the helicopter inspected. During the inspection the upper LH tailboom fitting was found cracked. Without the pilots curiosity and safety being the number one priority this would have ended with the loss of this UH1H.
Helicopter stats
ACTT: 13,668.8
ACTT spent logging: 8000+
Tailboom: TT: UNK but is not original to A/C
Dennis Pedersen
Director of Quality and Safety
Direct: 307-778-5777 ext. 718
Mobile: 970-556-3051
Home: 970-224-2333