Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atwater, Ohio 44201
Saturday, June 16, 2001 16:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said the purpose of the flight was to experiment with ballast added to the helicopter. He said that in its normal configuration, the helicopter tended to ascend and descend from a hover in a left-skid low attitude. The pilot said that with the proper placement of ballast, the center-of-gravity could be adjusted to attain a more wings-level attitude during takeoffs and landings to and from a hover. The pilot placed the ballast weight on the pad to the right of the helicopter prior to engine start. He said he intended to fly one trip around the traffic pattern, land the helicopter, set the throttle at idle, de-plane, install the ballast weight, then fly the helicopter around the pattern to note the difference in helicopter attitude in both hovering and forward flight. During the initial takeoff to a hover, the helicopter drifted right, struck the weight, and rolled over onto its side. When asked if he was familiar with the phenomenon of dynamic rollover, the pilot said: "I sure am. What I should have done was lower the collective, but I think I tried to maneuver out of it." The pilot said there were no mechanical deficiencies with the helicopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper remedial response to a dynamic rollover event, which resulted in the helicopter rolling over on its side.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atwater |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 44201 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811000W |
| Event Location Airport | Private |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1130 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CAK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1228 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2368 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KCAK 161951Z COR VRB06KT 10SM FEW050 FEW150 FEW250 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 12246 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot/owner |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 25 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 10 2002 8:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cleveland, OH 44070 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2242P |
| NTSB Number | IAD01LA071 |
| 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-22A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0493 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 5 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 3848 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert B. Showalter |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Akron |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44312 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Atwater |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Hover - in ground effect |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 12 2002 11:25AM |
| 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 | -- |