Amateur-built Safari accident near Leavenworth, Washington, August 4, 2005
On August 4, 2005 at about 2:30 pm local time, a amateur-built Safari (helicopter), registered N13MA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Leavenworth, Washington. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The failure of the tail rotor drive shaft during cruise flight. Factors include soft, grassy terrain at the location where the pilot executed the autorotational landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 4, 2005 · about 2:30 pm local time
- Place
- Leavenworth, Washington · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Safari
- Registration
- N13MA · no longer on the register · serial BB2058
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While in cruise flight about 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot heard a loud grinding sound and felt a significant vibration in the airframe of the helicopter. The aircraft then swung to the right, so the pilot elected to reduce the throttle and perform an autorotation to a nearby open field. During the attempted autorotational landing on the soft grassy terrain, the aircraft touched down, bounced back into the air, turned about 300 degrees, and then touched down a second time. During the second touchdown, the aircraft rolled over onto its left side. During the accident sequence, the main rotor blades flexed downward and came in contact with the tail boom. When the pilot inspected the helicopter at the scene, he found that all of its components, except for the tail rotor drive shaft, were there at that one location. Although he searched the local area for the tail rotor drive shaft, he was unable to locate it. The drive shaft was later found by a local resident several hundred feet from the location where the helicopter touched down. After being recovered to a hangar, the aircraft was inspected by an FAA Airworthiness Inspector, who determined that the tail rotor drive shaft had failed in cruise flight at a location near where it attaches to the main rotor transmission assembly. The reason for the failure of the shaft could not be positively determined.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 5,040 hours in all; 228 in this make and model; 41 in the last 90 days; 31 in the last 30 days
- Last flight review: May 1, 2002
- Medical certificate: Class 3
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 308 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, February 1, 2005; 92 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,515 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-B2C (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 8S2 Cashmere WA at 2:15 pm
- Destination: KPAE Everett WA
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 70°F (21°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.