Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lantana, Florida 33462
Sunday, December 15, 1996 12:56 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that as he was descending on right base for landing, the throttle stuck full open, and the engine began to overspeed. He entered autorotation and turned into the wind. Reportedly, he did not initiate a deceleration (flare), and the helicopter collided with the ground in a nose-high attitude, bounced, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. The helicopter was destroyed by a postcrash fire. No pre-accident deficiency was found during examination of the wreckage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

an undetermined throttle problem, which resulted in a stuck (binding) throttle; and inadequate remedial action by the pilot, which led to a hard landing and subsequent nose over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/15/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1256
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City LANTANA
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33462
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport PALM BEACH COUNTY PARK
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LNA
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 11
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID PBI
Elevation of weather observation facility 19
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 20
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1096
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 15 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1315
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1200Z
NTSB Number MIA97LA038
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 Bell
Aircraft Model 47G
Aircraft Series Identifier 47G
Aircraft Serial Number 100
Certified Max Gross Weight 1550
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 16 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 67
Airframe Hours 243
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DON L AIRCRAFT INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 811236
Aircraft Owner City BOCA ROTAN
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33481
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name DONALD S. LLOYD
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 4284 N.W. 29TH WAY
Operator City BOCA ROTAN
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33434
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code LNA
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1246
Departure Time Zone EST
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 Emergency landing
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 --