Amateur-built Safari Helicopter accident near Cedar Park, Texas, September 13, 2009
On September 13, 2009 at about 7:30 pm local time, a amateur-built Safari Helicopter, registered N555BB, was substantially damaged in an accident during approach (VFR pattern final) near Cedar Park, Texas (Breakaway Park Airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
An in-flight separation of the tail rotor blades and the tail rotor gearbox for undetermined reasons.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 13, 2009 · about 7:30 pm local time
- Place
- Cedar Park, Texas · Breakaway Park Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Safari Helicopter
- Registration
- N555BB · no longer on the register · serial BB2077
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The helicopter was approximately 400 feet above the ground on a normal straight-in landing to a paved runway. At an airspeed of 45 miles per hour the pilot heard a snap and the helicopter began to spin. The pilot entered an autorotation and said he was concentrating on just “trying to keep the helicopter as flat as possible”. The helicopter struck the trees in a nose-down attitude. There was no fuel spill and no postcrash fire. The helicopter was substantially damaged and the pilot, who was the only occupant, sustained minor injuries. The Texas State Trooper who responded said that the tail rotor gearbox was missing from the area of the main wreckage. By the next day residents in the area had found a single tail rotor blade and, several hundred feet away, they found the other tail rotor blade still attached to the tail rotor hub and tail rotor gearbox. Photographs of the separated tail rotor blade show that the skin had ripped away from all three blade grip bolt holes. A postcrash examination of the helicopter failed to reveal why the tail rotor blades and gearbox separated from the aircraft.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Unknown or undetermined during unknown
- Part(s) separation from AC during approach (VFR pattern final) defining event
- Part(s) separation from AC during uncontrolled descent
- Autorotation Loss of control in flight
- Autorotation Off-field or emergency landing
The NTSB's findings
- cause Not determined › Not determined › (general) › (general) › Unknown/Not determined
- Aircraft › Aircraft propeller/rotor › Tail rotor › Tail rotor blade › Failure
- Aircraft › Aircraft propeller/rotor › Tail rotor › Tail rotor head › Capability exceeded
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 254 hours in all; 155 in this make and model; 15 in the last 90 days; 4 in the last 30 days; 225 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: December 1, 2007
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: minor injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 135 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, January 18, 2009
- Maximum gross weight: 1,540 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-B2B (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 40XS Cedar Park TX at 7:00 pm
- Destination: 40XS Cedar Park TX
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 15, 2,900 ft by 50 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,000 ft; scat at 1,700 ft
- Temperature: 79°F (26°C), dew point 68°F (20°C)
- Altimeter: 29.79 inHg
- Observation at 7:28 pm from KRYW, 9 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.