Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Clark County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jeffersonville, Indiana 47172
Friday, October 19, 2001 16:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was damaged when it impacted the ground and burned while hovering. The helicopter was piloted by a certified flight instructor (CFI) and dual student. The student was the holder of a private pilot certificate with a helicopter rating. In a written report, the dual student said that he raised the helicopter up to a hover and rotated 90 degrees with the helicopter facing downwind. He said that the helicopter seemed somewhat unstable in the gusty tailwind. He said that the helicopter came up in the front and then he felt a vibration in the tail. He said that the helicopter turned and the left skid impacted the ground and the helicopter rolled onto its left side. In a written report, the CFI said that, after a rudder turn when the helicopter was facing downwind, the student, "...very abruptly pitched the nose up reacting to the wind behind him. The abrupt pitch attitude allowed the tail to strike the ground." The CFI said that the aircraft was uncontrollable at that point and ultimately rolled onto its left side. A weather reporting station located about 9 miles and 157 degrees from the accident site recorded the winds as 10 knots gusting to 18 knots from 230 degrees at 1553. No anomalies were found with respect to the helicopter and none were reported.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The dual student pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter, his failure to maintain altitude/clearance from the terrain, and the inadequate supervision by the flight instructor. A factor was the gusty wind condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/19/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Jeffersonville |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47172 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | CLARK COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JVY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 474 |
| 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) | 157 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LOU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 546 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11817 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 19 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2002 9:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Indianapolis, Indiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N840WA |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA008 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47G-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2008 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Jul 25 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 54 |
| Airframe Hours | 16755 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Whirl Away Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6003 Propeller Ln. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sellersburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47172 |
| 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 | JVY |
| Departure City | JEFFERSONVILLE |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1540 |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2002 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |