Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Morrison, Colorado 80465
Friday, November 22, 2002 18:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said his helicopter was approaching a landing area, located just east of a restaurant, from the south, in night visual meteorological conditions. During the approach, the pilot could not see the lighted flag on top of the restaurant, thus he could not determine the wind direction or velocity for landing. He executed a go around and began maneuvering so that he could approach the landing area from the east. The pilot said that at the "northern most point of the go around, a tail rotor strike was felt." The tail rotor struck telephone lines along the north side of a road. The pilot immediately put the helicopter down hard into a ditch alongside the road, breaking the left skid, crushing the right skid and fuselage upward, bending and twisting the main rotor blades, and bending the tail rotor blades. An examination of the helicopter's systems revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot not maintaining clearance from the telephone lines during landing. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilot not being able to see the telephone lines, the low altitude, and the dark night.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/22/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Morrison
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80465
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393830N
Event Location Longitude 1051000W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 95
Weather Observation Facility ID APA
Elevation of weather observation facility 5883
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 13000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
Density Altitude (feet) 6626
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13178
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Nov 22 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1925
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2003 4:34PM
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 N552CS
NTSB Number DEN03LA018
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 Enstrom
Aircraft Model F-28C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 437
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 16 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 34.3
Airframe Hours 3254
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Horizon Flying Club, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. Box 96
Aircraft Owner City Indian Hills
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80454
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name David Copp
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 4625 W. 99th Place
Operator City Westminster
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80031
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 No
Departure Airport Code 2V2
Departure City Longmont
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Morrison
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 25 2003 11:52AM
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 --