Pvt Helipad Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Willcox, Arizona 85643
Sunday, January 27, 2002 14:06 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While hovering in ground effect in a 10 mph wind, a 20 mph gust was encountered. The pilot attempted to maintain control by movement of the cyclic control, but the helicopter impacted the ground and rolled over. In a verbal statement, the pilot asserted that when he had attempted to move the cycle control to the right to stabilize the helicopter, his right hand contacted his right thigh, which was against the installed right side collective control. He asserted that this momentarily restricted his available range of cycle movement. The helicopter then drifted left, impacted the ground, and rolled over. The pilot's flight instructor had authorized his student to fly in wind conditions not exceeding 10 mph.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to compensate for a gust condition and to maintain lateral control while hovering due to restricted cyclic control movement, which resulted from an inadequate control location/design.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/27/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1406
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Willcox
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85643
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 322500N
Event Location Longitude 1095000W
Event Location Airport Pvt Helipad
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID SAD
Elevation of weather observation facility 3177
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 22
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14788
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 27 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1345
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 5 2004 4:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Scottsdale, AZ

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N30545
NTSB Number LAX02LA071
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 Richard S. Anderson
Aircraft Model Rotorway Exec 162F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 6554
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 Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 25
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard S. Anderson
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Phoenix
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85027
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Willcox
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1325
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Willcox
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 21 2003 5:02PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
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 --