Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dillant-Hopkins Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Keene, New Hampshire 03431
Monday, February 19, 2001 14:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot was practicing hovering autorotations with a flight instructor onboard. They were performing the practice in an open field next to a runway. At the rear of the field behind the helicopter was a snowbank with an irregular line. There was a wind of about 10 knots on the nose of the helicopter. During each hovering autorotation, the helicopter ended up further aft than the preceding one. The flight instructor looked out of his left door and based upon the part of the snowbank that he could see, he thought he had about 50-75 feet to the snow bank. However, he was unaware that the left rear skid was already under the crust of the snowbank directly behind the helicopter. He took control of the helicopter with the intent of repositioning it to the middle of the field. When the flight instructor applied the collective to lift off, the helicopter pivoted on the left rear skid, and rolled over on its left side. The flight instructor reported the accident could have been prevented had he maintained better situational awareness of the snowbank in the field where they were practicing, and if he had used a two stage pickup, where he first made the helicopter light on the skids, and then applied the collective to lift off more slowly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
inadequate visual lookout by the flight instructor on the helicopter's proximity to the snowbank, and subsequent lift off, which resulted in a dynamic rollover.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/19/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Keene |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03431 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425254N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0721615W |
| Event Location Airport | Dillant-Hopkins |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EEN |
| 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 | 488 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1435 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 488 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1160 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10323 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO-05 |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 714 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, Maine |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N910SM |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA086 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R-22B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1910 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 16 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 1011 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Green River Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 395 |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Chesterfield |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03466 |
| 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 | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | EEN |
| Departure City | Keene |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | EEN |
| Destination City | Keene |
| Destination State | NH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 11 2001 10:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| 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 | -- |