Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ardmore Downtown Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73401
Saturday, December 1, 2001 10:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot had completed three power recovery autorotations to the south, and the flight instructor was to demonstrate a "full touchdown autorotation" to end the training session. The flight instructor initiated the autorotation at 1,500 feet msl and 60 knots to the airport's mid-field median. After slowing to 40 knots, the instructor began a flare to reduce the airspeed to 15-20 knots. At 10 feet agl, he pulled collective to cushion the landing. The helicopter touched down on the soft grassy area and slid for approximately 10 feet before starting to nose over. "The tail of the helicopter pitched upward into the blades, severing it." The helicopter rotated left approximately 270 degrees before coming to rest upright. The flight instructor stated that "weather had saturated the ground and caused the sod to be soft on the usual landing area. It was not visible from the helicopter."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the flight instructor's selection of an unsuitable area for practicing a full touchdown autorotation, which resulted in a nose over. A contributing factor was the soft ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/1/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Ardmore |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 73401 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340846N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0970721W |
| Event Location Airport | Ardmore Downtown Executive |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1F0 |
| 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 | 844 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1029 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 1F0 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 844 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12607 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 3 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5226 |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA044 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 37 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 15438 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Versatile Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 1433 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ardmore |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 73402 |
| 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 | HFZS |
| 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 | 1F0 |
| Departure City | Ardmore |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2002 3:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |