Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Alber Whitted Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
Saturday, January 19, 2002 15:05 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
This was the second attempted liftoff after a previous unsuccessful attempt and subsequent shutdown and check of the helicopter's drive belts. The pilot noticed the helicopter again required "a lot of power." At 10 to 15 feet above the ground, the main rotor rpm dropped. The pilot increased engine power, but the rotor rpm continued to decay. The pilot aborted the takeoff, and the helicopter touched down hard on the right skid. Examination of the helicopter revealed damage to the right front skid, damage to the main rotor system, and separation of the tail boom assembly. The density altitude was estimated to have been 1140 feet at the approximate departure time. The helicopter gross weight is 1500 pounds and the useful load was 425 pounds. Examination of the helicopter revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to continue flight with demonstrated inadequate takeoff performance capability, which resulted in an in-flight loss of control and subsequent hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/19/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | St. Petersburg |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33701 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 274554N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823737W |
| Event Location Airport | Alber Whitted |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SPG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 344 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1140 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KPIE 192053Z 20016G23KT 10SM CLR 25/18 A2998 |
| 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) | 14395 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 21 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2349 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa FSDO - 35 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N162LE |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA042 |
| 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 | Louis Edmondson |
| Aircraft Model | 162F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RI6137 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 41 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LouAir Associates, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 351 6th Ave. W |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bradenton |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34205 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William Patrick Trefny |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 120 20th Ave. N |
| Operator City | St. Petersburg |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33704 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SPG |
| Departure City | St. Petersburg |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SPG |
| Destination City | St. Petersburg |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2002 9:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |