Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lake County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leadville, Colorado 80461
Tuesady, September 10, 1996 8:50 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter crew was conducting high altitude flight tests pursuant to obtaining two Supplemental Type Certificates. From an altitude of 200 feet, and at 8,000 pounds gross weight, the pilot initiated an intentional autorotation at 42 knots with a one second delay before lowering the collective control. The pilot said he was unable to arrest the descent rate as the helicopter approached the runway at 40 knots. The helicopter was destroyed when it impacted the runway. A video camera was used to record the flight tests. A review of the tape disclosed that on at least two previous autorotations, the tail boom stinger struck the ground first. According to an FAA helicopter operations inspector, this was indicative that the pilot was 'outside the low end of the height-velocity curve.' He said that 'either there was insufficient airspeed for the altitude used, or there was insufficient altitude for the airspeed used.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper inflight planning/decision in that he used an inadequate airspeed or an inadequate altitude, or both, for the intentional autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/10/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 850 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | LEADVILLE |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80461 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LAKE COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LXV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 9927 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 855 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LXV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9927 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1015 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 10 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 915 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23Y |
| NTSB Number | FTW96LA380 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4243 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8500 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 23 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 7403 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FARM DEVELOPMENT CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 1201 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOISE |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83701 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | IDAHO HELICOPTERS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2471 COMMERCE AVE. |
| Operator City | BOISE |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 83705 |
| Operator Code | GAKA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LXV |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 6400 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |