Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
University Hospital Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cincinnati, Ohio 45267
Saturday, May 6, 2000 23:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated he approached the lighted rooftop helipad from the southwest, at night, with light winds. The helipad and hangar were just ahead of him, and he initiated a right pedal turn to align the helicopter towards the south. He heard a loud bang, and the helicopter rotated uncontrollably, nose right. He lowered the collective, and the helicopter struck the landing area. Examination revealed the tail rotor blade ends were fragmented, and marks on the top corner of the hangar were similar to a tail rotor blade strike. Due to other helicopters parked on the ramp, the only approach was from the southwest. Winds were estimated to be from 220 degrees at 10 knots with gusts to 15 knots. Examination of the hydraulic pump and hydraulic tail rotor actuator found no evidence of failure or malfunction. Personnel reported the windsock would occasionally get caught on its support structure, and not indicate the true nature of the wind. There was no other wind information available to the pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's misjudgment of his closure rate, while turning to land on the rooftop helipad, which resulted in a collision with the building. Factors in the accident were the tailwind and the stuck windsock.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/6/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2335 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | CINCINNATI |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45267 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8OH9 |
| 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 | 937 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 934 |
| 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) | 922 |
| NTSB Notification Source | CINNCINNATI FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 7 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911NC |
| NTSB Number | NYC00FA127 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | BK-117-A4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BK-117-A4 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7026 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7055 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 26 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 5857 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 113 BORMAN DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAFAYETTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70508 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | HEEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LUK |
| Departure City | CINCINNATI |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 8OH9 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 1:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |