Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Placerville, California 95667
Monday, January 1, 2001 15:29 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot finished building the helicopter and this was its first flight. He had received 11 hours of flight instruction and was endorsed for hover only solo. The pilot reported that he was 1-2 feet in the air and as he began backing the helicopter the tail rotor guard struck the ground, the main rotor struck the tail boom, and the left skid struck the ground. The skid collapsed and the helicopter rolled over. After exiting, the pilot attempted to right the helicopter, but fuel leaking from the fuel cap ignited when it contacted the exhaust. The helicopter was destroyed in the subsequent fire.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the student pilot to maintain adequate ground clearance while hovering.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/1/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1529
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Placerville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95667
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Private
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1545 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID MHR
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.17
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10937
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 1 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1615
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2001 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office SACRAMENTO FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N94LW
NTSB Number LAX01LA068
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Wallace
Aircraft Model Rotorway EXEC 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 71851
Certified Max Gross Weight 1380
Aircraft Category Helicopter
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DANIEL WALLACE
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kingwood
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77345
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name ANTHONY COLBERT
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Placerville
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95667
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 61Q
Departure City Placerville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1529
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Placerville
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Hover
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Oct 20 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --