Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Englewood, Colorado 80210
Monday, July 8, 2002 19:38 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he was doing hover testing of his helicopter. He said the tower cleared him to aerial taxi from a hangar on the east side of the field to the compass rose. The pilot said to get to the compass rose, he determined he would have to fly west toward a building on the airport and then turn south to fly behind the building (the west side of the building), and stay between the building and taxiway A, the north-south parallel taxiway to the runway. The pilot said that as he passed behind the building, "I think I experienced a tailwind. The helicopter began losing power and lift. I set up to do a skidding landing. The helicopter skidded and tipped forward, caught the rotor on the ground." The pilot said, "I experienced settling with power and did not have enough altitude to fly out of it." The wind conditions reported 15 minutes after the accident were 360 degrees at 11 knots. An examination of the helicopter revealed no preimpact anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot encountering settling with power. A factor contributing to the accident was the tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/8/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1938
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Englewood
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80210
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393413N
Event Location Longitude 1045058W
Event Location Airport Centennial Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 5880
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID APA
Elevation of weather observation facility 5880
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 14000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 9000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.29
Density Altitude (feet) 8462
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12506
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 8 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1959
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2002 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N30319
NTSB Number DEN02FA070
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 Boone
Aircraft Model Rotorway 162-F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3279
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jun 23 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2.5
Airframe Hours 2.5
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Douglas M. Boone
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6907 N. Trailway Circle
Aircraft Owner City Parker
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80134
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 APA
Departure City Englewood
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1936
Departure Time Zone MDT
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 Taxi - aerial
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 29 2002 10:42AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
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 --