Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Economy, Indiana 47339
Friday, September 22, 2000 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot lost control of the helicopter and it impacted the terrain on landing. The purpose of the flight was for aerial photography. The pilot reported the winds increased during the flight and he elected to make an off airport landing to take a break and see if the winds would subside. During touchdown, the helicopter tilted rearward. The pilot attempted to recover; however the tailrotor struck the ground and the helicopter became airborne, rotated to the right and reached an altitude of 10 feet to 15 feet. The pilot reduced the collective and closed the throttle at which time the helicopter landed hard. The pilot lost his hold on the collective and it rose from the impact. This caused the helicopter to begin rotating again, however it remained on the ground. The pilot pushed the collective back down and eventually got the engine shut down. The pilot reported that after the accident he checked the area and discovered that the ground had a downhill slope in the area where the rear portion of the skids would have been. He reported that the slope was obscured by grass.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot failed to maintain control of the helicopter while attempting a landing on unsuitable terrain. A factor associated with the accident was the grass covered, down slope in the terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/22/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ECONOMY |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47339 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 937 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 76 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 55 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| 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) | 13277 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 22 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N14841 |
| NTSB Number | CHI00TA306 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47G-5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 47G-5A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25080 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2700 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 18 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN SOLENBERG |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7605 INDIAN LAKE RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | INDIANAPOLIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46236 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WAYNE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 89 SOUTH 3RD ST. |
| Operator City | RICHMOND |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 47374 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RID |
| Departure City | RICHMOND |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 23 2001 7:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |