an in-flight breakup. TAIC investigators determined that “impact marks on the tail-rotor blade and tail-rotor gearbox matched the profile of the leading edge or a main-rotor blade” and that the tail boom had also been severed by the main rotor. A torque twist in the tail-rotor drive shaft “was consistent with the engine having driven it against a solid resistance at the tail-rotor end.” The left rear door was free of burn marks, showing that
it had detached from the cabin before the post-impact fire. The fact that heavy items such as the ammunition boxes had been carried far ahead despite the helicopter’s near-ver- tical descent indicated they “had been flung out of the rear cabin” as the aircraft spun. Crucially, the first large item in the debris field was the
pilot’s black cold-weather overalls, which had snagged on one tail-rotor blade and “flailed around until the tail-ro- tor blade broke off.” This imposed loads that twisted the tail-rotor driveshaft; at 3,200 rpm, the resulting imbalance
shattered the tail-rotor gearbox. The overalls had been slashed, and paint transfer marks
on one leg “matched the color and profile of the tail-rotor blades,” one of which bore witness marks matching the over- alls’ zipper and snap fastener. Similar witness marks were found on the left side of the tail boom. These proved to be the clues that enabled the TAIC to reconstruct the accident sequence, though the commission’s report acknowledges some uncertainty about the exact order of some events. The accident sequence was triggered when the left rear
door opened about two minutes after takeoff. The TAIC listed seven possible reasons this might have happened, ranging from the plausible—failure to latch the door prop- erly before takeoff, or a mechanism that was worn and out of adjustment—to the highly unlikely (such as someone had opened the door deliberately). In any case, unsecured items immediately began leaving the cabin. The remnants of the tail-rotor assembly pitched forward
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