Napa County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Napa, California 94558
Monday, September 8, 1997 10:06 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter attempted to taxi to takeoff with the tie down chains still attached, it rolled over and a 3-foot section of the main rotor blades separated and penetrated the side of a building and landed on a desk. The pilot reported that he did not routinely tie the aircraft down at night. Ramp personnel tied the aircraft down the night before due to high winds at the airport. The pilot said that he performed his preflight and did not look down at the skids, nor did he notice the tie down chains.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the pilot to perform an adequate preflight, which resulted in him failing to notice and release the tie down chains.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/8/1997
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1006
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City NAPA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94558
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport NAPA COUNTY AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APC
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 33
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1015 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID APC
Elevation of weather observation facility 33
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 522
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 8 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1142
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:34PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N770GG
NTSB Number LAX97LA317
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 206B
Aircraft Series Identifier 206B
Aircraft Serial Number 2161
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 25 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 7360
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BERRY LEASING COMPANY L P
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1837 HOWARD ROAD
Aircraft Owner City MADERA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93637
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
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 APC
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
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 Taxi
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 --