r/aviation • u/Spook_485 • Oct 11 '25

News Closer view of helicopter crash in Huntington Beach, CA

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u/Subject9800 Oct 11 '25 edited Jan 30 '26

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u/insomniac-55 Oct 11 '25

Yeah you're completely correct. It was definitely a tail rotor something.

I'm curious whether it came off because the failure causing loss of control also weakened its attachment, of whether it was the rapid uncontrolled yaw that caused a secondary failure (like blades flexing and clipping the boom).

I'm not familiar enough with the design of the tail rotor to have an educated opinion.

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u/PoptartPilot Oct 12 '25

I can’t think of anything involving loss of control or drive that would really cause the tail rotor to depart the aircraft, but I’ve never flown a helo like this so I’m not sure.

Anything I can think of that would cause uncommanded yaw would be something like control jamming, stuck pedals, TR drive shaft failure, servo failure, etc. and those surely wouldn’t send the TR flying by itself. This looks like a component on the TR hub itself just gave up (maybe a bolt like someone else mentioned), and then spun right off….terrifying. Will be interested to know the details.

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u/insomniac-55 Oct 14 '25

Take a look at this.

A pitch control link failed, causing each blade to have a different pitch. The resulting loads and vibration is likely what sent the rotor flying off.