Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Princetown, New York 12056
Sunday, March 23, 2003 12:15 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The instructor had the student conduct approximately 18 takeoff and landings. Each was executed to and from a hover, and the student had difficulty maintaining rotor RPM during the maneuvers. The helicopter then departed, and flew to a private heliport. The student completed an "approach to the ground," and the instructor asked him to practice hover taxiing, before terminating the flight. As the student started to apply collective, the instructor looked inside to check rotor RPM. When he looked back outside, the helicopter was in a nose high, right side low attitude. The instructor lowered the collective and applied full left cyclic, but the roll to the right continued. The main-rotor blades impacted the ground, and the helicopter came to rest. The instructor added that during all the flights and accident sequence, he did not experience any mechanical problems with the helicopter. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the rear of the right skid was in an area of mud.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student's failure to maintain control while executing a takeoff to a hover, and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action. A factor in the accident was the muddy ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/23/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1215
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Princetown
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 12056
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 424635N
Event Location Longitude 0740211W
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 1154 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 50
Weather Observation Facility ID SCH
Elevation of weather observation facility 378
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2200
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) 6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
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) 29.9
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14661
NTSB Notification Source FAA Eastern Region Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Mar 23 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1230
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 30 2003 8:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albany

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N74120
NTSB Number NYC03LA069
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 Bell
Aircraft Model 47D
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number WH5005
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
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 Mar 16 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 8
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Millenium Helicopters, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Bear
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 Bear
Operator State --
Operator Country USA
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City Princetown
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
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 Oct 20 2003 12:06PM
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 --