yzchopper Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 Well our school is out of a Schweizer 300c. The helicopter was in a crash on Monday the 26th while pollinating corn. The pilot walked away uninjured but the helicopter received substantial damage. Pilot reported a loss of power and had a hard landing. Apon inspection it appears the clutch cable broke causing the disengagment of the rotor from the engine. The helicopter was at a low altitude and was coming out of an agturn when all power was lost. The pilot got the helicopter straightened out and performed an emergency landing. I will not speculate or comment any further. I found just a breif preliminary report on the FAA's website. If you wish to read the report you can go there. I just wanted to share this story as the pilot was very lucky and is not just a CFI but a real good friend to me. ::thanks:: Steve ::rotorhead:: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy the Flying Buddha Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 Where did the cable break? At an end or was it frayed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yzchopper Posted July 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 The cable looked frayed and like it may have started to stretch to me when I looked at it and the mechanics said the cable broke under the pulley wheel where you would need to remove the wheel to inspect. We do not require the students to remove anything like that during their preflight. It was actually a very hard spot to see. I guess if you carried a flashlight and thought to look in the area between and under the pulley wheel and bracket you may have been able to see something but very very unlikely. But I'm not certain of this. I will wait for NTSB report. :cool: Steve ::rotorhead:: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH55 Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 I would like to know if the cable that broke was the old style, small cable, or new style, large diameter cable. The clutch cable should always be included in your preflight.Glad to hear the pilot is ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yzchopper Posted August 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 The cable is inspected during the preflight but at the location of the stretch and breaking point it is hard to inspect without removing the the pulley wheel. I do not know the size of the cable but I'm sure I could find out for you. It looked small to me. Steve ::rotorhead:: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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