Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lafayette, Louisiana 70504
Tuesady, October 1, 1996 9:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he and his groundcrew were preparing to commence an aerial application job for a farmer who was reportedly 'anxious' to get the job underway. The helicopter was transported to the job site on a trailer from which it was normally operated. After a preflight, the pilot prepared to take off from the trailer. Upon lift-off, the rear portion of the left skid became 'snagged' on the left rear tiedown. According to a witness and the pilot, the aircraft 'pitched up, rolled left', and at 'least one of the main rotor blades struck the ground.' Subsequently, the skid broke loose from the tie down, and the nose pitched down and impacted the ground. During this sequence, the tail boom separated from the helicopter. The pilot reported that he and his groundcrew were fatigued when they arrived on the job. During a 168 day time period, he had flown over 400 hours, and had spent approximately 656 hours driving to jobs. He reported his normal work day to be 0500 to 2300 (allowing 6 hours for sleep). The pilot stated that he needed 8 hours of sleep on average to feel fully rested.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to ensure a proper preflight and the groundcrew's failure to remove the tiedown. Factors were pilot and groundcrew fatigue.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/1/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | LAFAYETTE |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70504 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1192 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 1 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1727 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7MH |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA001 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CONTINENTAL COPTERS |
| Aircraft Model | EL TOMCAT MK-5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | EL TOMCAT |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MHTE-7 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 200 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KENNETH E. SQUIRES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT 3 BOX 206 |
| Aircraft Owner City | JEANERETTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70544 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | PCXG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |