07-08-2026, 10:30 PM
About 20 years ago I had a student with a 162f and an immaculate paint job. He did not like removing the inspection panels because it would mar his perfect paint job. One morning he and his wife met another Rotorway owner, also a former student of mine, to fly out to breakfast. He told me that he knew that the tail rotor belt tension was a bit loose but he had been flying with them loose and did not notice any issue with them. He elected to fly them in that condition because he did not want to remove the rear tail boom cover to access the tension bolts due to his perfect paint job.
On the flight home he elected to take a short cut over a densely wooded area instead of flying around it as I had instructed. When the helicopter was about midway over the forest he heard a bang, felt a mechanical slap on the helicopter structure, and knew to immediately enter an autorotation. The problem is that he placed himself in an area where there was no good place to land. Jim kept his cool and flared into the top of the 75’ oak trees.
The helicopter settled into the tree tops and when the main rotors contacted the oak branches the helicopter inverted and tumbled to the ground. Jim and Mia his wife were securely strapped into the helicopter as it plummeted down through the trees inverted. A limb came through the upper windshield and through Jim’s thigh impaling him in the cabin where he could not move. The fuel pump inertia switches did their job and shut the fuel pumps off killing the engine so there was no fire.
Mia was able to crawl out of the wreckage and had to hike to a spot to get cell coverage. Once connected she called 911 and shortly the emergency crews began the process of extricating Jim. While in the hospital Jim called me and told me that his concern over his perfect paint job cost him his helicopter. He also told me that he should have followed my instruction to not fly over areas that you don’t want to land in.
Upon inspection we found the middle tail rotor belt had broken due to running it too loose. It would be exceptionally rare for a properly tensioned belt to break. Always check your belt tensions prior to flying your helicopter. The tail rotor belt tensions can change with temperature, especially with a dark panted tail boom.
![[Image: IMG-4672.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/8g1Fb3fB/IMG-4672.jpg)
On the flight home he elected to take a short cut over a densely wooded area instead of flying around it as I had instructed. When the helicopter was about midway over the forest he heard a bang, felt a mechanical slap on the helicopter structure, and knew to immediately enter an autorotation. The problem is that he placed himself in an area where there was no good place to land. Jim kept his cool and flared into the top of the 75’ oak trees.
The helicopter settled into the tree tops and when the main rotors contacted the oak branches the helicopter inverted and tumbled to the ground. Jim and Mia his wife were securely strapped into the helicopter as it plummeted down through the trees inverted. A limb came through the upper windshield and through Jim’s thigh impaling him in the cabin where he could not move. The fuel pump inertia switches did their job and shut the fuel pumps off killing the engine so there was no fire.
Mia was able to crawl out of the wreckage and had to hike to a spot to get cell coverage. Once connected she called 911 and shortly the emergency crews began the process of extricating Jim. While in the hospital Jim called me and told me that his concern over his perfect paint job cost him his helicopter. He also told me that he should have followed my instruction to not fly over areas that you don’t want to land in.
Upon inspection we found the middle tail rotor belt had broken due to running it too loose. It would be exceptionally rare for a properly tensioned belt to break. Always check your belt tensions prior to flying your helicopter. The tail rotor belt tensions can change with temperature, especially with a dark panted tail boom.
