FTW86FA085 · Bell 206B
Bell 206B · Accident: airframe, component or system failure on approach
From Pecos, TX to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW86FA085
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Bell 206B
- Aircraft type
- Bell 206
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N27785
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Pecos, TXTo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · VFR pattern downwind
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Airframe, component or system failure
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Other maintenance personnel › Improper use of procedure
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, installation, improper
- Rotor drive system, engine to transmission drive › Disconnected
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE HELICOPTER WAS ON A FLT TO A SITE NR GUADALUPE PASS, AN AREA KNOWN FOR ERRATIC & GUSTY WNDS. AS THE PLT WAS ON AN APCH TO A HI MEADOW (ELEV APRX 5460'), THE HELICOPTER ENTERED A DSCNT & CRASHED WELL SHORT OF THE INTENDED LNDG AREA. A WITNESS RPRTD THE MAIN ROTOR RPM SLOWED & THE ROTOR BLADES CONED PRIOR TO IMPACT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE HELICOPTER IMPACTED IN A LVL ATTITUDE & AT A HIGH RATE OF DSCNT. AN INV REVEALED THAT A COUPLING ON THE ENG-TO-MAIN TRANSMISSION DRIVE SHAFT HAD BECOME DISCONNECTED. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE MALE DRIVESHAFT COUPLING WAS NOT PROPERLY SECURED TO THE FLANGE ON THE MAIN ROTOR DRIVESHAFT'S ENG END. EIGHT DAYS PRIOR TO THE ACDNT, AN AIR COND SYS WAS INSTALLED ON THE HELICOPTER. THIS WOULD HAVE REQD THAT A DRIVE SHAFT COUPLING BE DISCONNECTED. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE SELF LOCKING NUTS WERE REUSED WHEN THE COUPLING WAS RECONNECTED.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW86FA085
- Event ID
- 20001213X33550
- Case number
- FTW86FA085
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: adf28777339213a91e875cc12e177dfe83b3c68b823339f826fe6c583b8b1526; retrieved 2026-09-18T14:23:20.213Z.