Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Slaton Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Slaton, Texas 79364
Thursday, October 7, 1999 18:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a 300-foot agl practice 180-degree autorotation, approximately 90 degrees into the turn, the pilot allowed 'a high sink-rate to develop', and began to pull pitch to arrest the descent. The pilot started to 'roll the throttle' open and he observed the N2 and Nr needles join at 92 percent. At this point, the left 180-degree turn was completed, and the aircraft rolled out parallel to and west of the runway with approximately 40 knots indicated airspeed. The pilot continued to roll on throttle and increase the collective in order 'to hold the helicopter about 3 feet above the ground.' However, the 'rotor rpm decreased too low', and the helicopter settled to the ground and slid approximately 60 feet. The left skid toe and lower wire cutter dug into the ground, and the helicopter rocked forward onto the toes of the skids. Subsequently, the main rotor blades contacted and severed the tail boom, and the helicopter rolled over, and came to rest on its left side. The operator stated that 'this maneuver could be entered from a higher agl altitude, this would have prevented the accident.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's initiation of the simulated emergency procedure at a low altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | SLATON |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79364 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SLATON MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | F49 |
| 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 | 3123 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4412 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1806 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1907 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 8:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N21166 |
| NTSB Number | FTW00TA007 |
| 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 | 3447 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 2 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 6651 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MIDTEX INVESTMENTS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8760-A RESEARCH BLVD., STE 245 |
| Aircraft Owner City | AUSTIN |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78758 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | TEXAS DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 4087 |
| Operator City | AUSTIN |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 78773 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LBB |
| Departure City | LUBBOCK |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Apr 9 2001 8:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 3800 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |