Amateur-built EXEC 162F accident near Chandler, Arizona, April 6, 2000
On April 6, 2000 at about 3:00 pm local time, a amateur-built EXEC 162F (helicopter), registered N21901, was substantially damaged in an accident near Chandler, Arizona (Memorial airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The inadequate maintenance inspection of the secondary shaft which resulted in its fatigue failure that emanated from a corroded circumferential score mark. A factor was the fence that the pilot flared to avoid, resulting in a hard landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 6, 2000 · about 3:00 pm local time
- Place
- Chandler, Arizona · Memorial · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built EXEC 162F
- Registration
- N21901 · no longer on the register · serial RI6035
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The helicopter landed hard collapsing the left skid and resulting in the main rotor blades striking the tail boom. While in the traffic pattern, during the downwind leg, the pilot heard a loud noise from the rear of the helicopter. He entered an autorotation and checked the cockpit instruments. Noting no anomalies, he rolled on the throttle and discovered that the engine speed would increase but the rotor speed would not. The pilot flared to avoid a fence then landed hard. Subsequent examination of the engine secondary shaft that transmits power to the main rotor through drive belts revealed that the shaft had failed in fatigue. There were numerous longitudinal and circumferential score marks on the secondary shaft indicating removal and reinstallation of the shaft many times. The fatigue fracture originated at one of the circumferential score marks and exhibited oxidation, indicating it had been fractured for some time.
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
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: helicopter; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 598 hours in all; 95 in this make and model; 62 in the last 90 days; 30 in the last 30 days; 506 as pilot in command; 95 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,200 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 3, 2000; 8 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotorway 162F (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: P19 AZ
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 12, 8,500 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 080° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 25,000 ft
- Temperature: 154°F (68°C), dew point 97°F (36°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:56 pm from PHX, 13 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N21901 the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.