Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Skypark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Woods Cross, Utah 84087
Friday, February 11, 2000 14:04 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the helicopter was to perform an autorotation during a maintenance flight to perform a functional check of the free-wheeling unit. A witness observed the helicopter at 100 to 150 feet agl, and he said that the main rotor blades 'stopped' and the aircraft started a slow spiral to the left, nose down. He further said that the helicopter was shaking violently, and its skids were flexing in and out. Postcrash examination revealed that the fuel control pointer, on the fuel control, was slightly above flight idle. Both cockpit throttles were observed positioned in slightly above the flight idle position. The helicopter's power analyzer and recorder (PAR) documented that at the time of impact, the engine's torque (TRQ) was at 13.5% and the main rotor speed (NR) was at 65.8%. The procedure for a power recovery from an autorotation is to smoothly roll throttle back on, confirm rotor and N2 needles are joined and in normal operating range, and simultaneously pull up collective while applying left pedal.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to roll throttle back on (return the power to the normal operating range) during an attempted power recovery from an autorotation, and his subsequent failure to maintain aircraft control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/11/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1404 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | WOODS CROSS |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84087 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SKYPARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BTF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 30 |
| Airport Elevation | 4234 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BTF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4234 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4693 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 274 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 11 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| 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 | N7UT |
| NTSB Number | DEN00GA050 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A+ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | OH-58A+ |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71-20842 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 11 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5015 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UTAH DEPART OF PUBLIC SAFETY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4501 SOUTH 2700 WEST |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84119 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BTF |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1355 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 16 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |