Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Raleigh East Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Knightdale, North Carolina 27545
Wednesday, September 28, 1994 9:47 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE FLIGHT WAS DELAYED BECAUSE OF A FOG LAYER AT THE AIRPORT. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES AT THE AIRPORT, THE HELICOPTER DEPARTED WITHOUT INCIDENT. A MINUTE INTO THE FLIGHT THEY HEARD THE PILOT, ALSO A HELICOPTER CFI, SAY, 'HEY! I'VE GOT A...'. NO OTHER RADIO TRANSMISSIONS WERE HEARD. A WITNESS LOCATED NEAR THE ACCIDENT SITE RECALLED WATCHING THE HELICOPTER FISHTAIL, AND HEARD A SPUTTERING SOUND COMING FROM THE HELICOPTER. RADAR DATA DEPICTED THE HELICOPTER AT 700 FT MSL, FLYING IN AN EASTERLY DIRECTION, AND THEN REVERSE COURSE TO A WESTERLY HEADING, WITHIN 23 SECS OF COVERAGE. THE MAIN FUSELAGE IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A WOODED AREA; OTHER DEBRIS FROM THE HELICOPTER WAS SCATTERED OVER AN AREA 800 FEET LONG AND 100 FEET WIDE. A POST IMPACT FIRE FURTHER DAMAGED THE AIRFRAME. EXAMINATION OF THE SEPARATED TAILCONE AND FUSELAGE COMPONENTS SHOWED EVIDENCE OF INFLIGHT MAIN ROTOR BLADE CONTACT; THE WRECKAGE EXAMINATION ALSO SHOWED SIGNS OF MAST BUMPING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
DIVERGENCE OF THE MAIN ROTOR FROM ITS NORMAL PLANE OF ROTATION FOR AN UNDETERMINED REASON(S) RESULTING IN ROTOR BLADE CONTACT WITH THE TAILCONE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/28/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 947 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | KNIGHTDALE |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27545 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | RALEIGH EAST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | W17 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 313 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 437 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 450 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1442 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 28 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N83112 |
| NTSB Number | ATL94FA179 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON |
| Aircraft Model | R-22B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R-22B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2446 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 30 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 124 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TRIANGLE HELICOPTER LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3424 BELLEVUE RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | RALIEGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27609 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RALEIGH HELICOPTERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | HIGHWAY 64 EAST |
| Operator City | KNIGHTDALE |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 27545 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | W17 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | W17 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |