N441CD
Registered owner: DB EXCAVATION INC, DE (owner ≠ operator)
Operators of this aircraft
Who operated this tail, and how firmly we know it.
| Operator | Role | Period | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAST TEXAS HELICOPTERS LLC (7ETA) | Certificate holder | — | Matched by certificate designator |
Accident & incident history
Maintenance disclosures
Service Difficulty Reports filed with the FAA for this airframe. Filing is largely voluntary — the number of reports is not a measure of reliability. To verify a report, search its control number at the FAA SDRS site.
1 report on file, 2020-06-22.
Part: SPRAG CLUTCH — ABNORMAL (DRIVE TRAIN) · airframe 1,146 hrs
OWNER COMPLAINED OF POWER LOSS DURING LEVEL OFF AND FLARE AFTER DESCENT. HE INSISTED THERE WAS NO "NEEDLE SPLIT". IN SPITE OF THAT, I SUSPECTED AN ISSUE WITH THE OVERRUNNING (SPRAG) CLUTCH. I FLIGHT TESTED AND ALL APPEARED NORMAL. AFTER CHECKING EVERYTHING THAT COULD CAUSE AN INTERMITTENT, TEMPORARY POWER LOSS INCLUDING ENGINE AND GOVERNOR SYSTEMS AND ELIMINATING ENGINE AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AS A POSSIBLE CAUSE, I FLIGHT TESTED THE AIRCRAFT AGAIN CONCENTRATING ON POWER RECOVERY FROM AUTOROTATIVE DESCENT. ON THE THIRD AUTOROTATION DESCENT WITH NEEDLES WELL SPLIT I INITIATED A GENTLE POWER RECOVERY. THE OVERRUNNING CLUTCH FAILED TO LOCK BACK UP WHEN NEEDLES WERE JOINED. I ROLLED THROTTLE BACK OFF AND REJOINED THE NEEDLES VERY CAREFULLY, ROCKING THE THROTTLE AS THE NEEDLES REJOINED. THE CLUTCH LOCKED BACK UP AND I WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE A NORMAL LANDING BEING EXTREMELY CAREFUL NOT TO ALLOW ANOTHER NEEDLE SPLIT. I HAD PREVIOUSLY (DURING INITIAL TROUBLESHOOTING) DRAINED AND INSPECTED THE SPRAG CLUTCH FLUID. IT SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF METAL PARTICLES. WE THEN INSTALLED A OVERHAULED CLUTCH ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A NEW SPRAG CLUTCH. PROBLEM SOLVED. ROBINSON HELICOPTERS IS INVESTIGATING THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE.