Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grove City, Ohio 43123
Tuesady, March 5, 2002 17:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the helicopter lifted off of the portable landing pad, a gust of wind began to push the helicopter backwards towards a hangar. The pilot raised the collective and the helicopter rose above the hangar; however, it continued in a rearward direction until the main rotor blades struck a tree. The pilot "rolled off" the power, and the helicopter began to descend to the ground. During the decent, the landing skid caught a vine, which rolled the helicopter inverted before it impacted the ground. The wind reported at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident, were from 220 degrees at 10 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees. A factor related to the accident was the gusting wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/5/2002
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Grove City
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 43123
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 395240N
Event Location Longitude 0830557W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
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 1651 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID CMH
Elevation of weather observation facility 815
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.25
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) 13612
NTSB Notification Source FAA CMH FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Mar 6 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 1 2003 9:44AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FSDO-07, Columbus, Ohio

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2128U
NTSB Number NYC02LA067
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 Brantly Helicopter
Aircraft Model B-2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 176
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 2 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 0
Airframe Hours 580
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lowell Newsome
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Grove City
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 43123
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) Flight Test
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City Grove City
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code NONE
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 Sep 27 2002 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --