Private Helipad In Lexington Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lexington, Kentucky 40512
Thursday, March 27, 2003 16:15 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed an occasional "shuffle", or what felt like an "out of balance condition", and decided to return to land. As he approached the landing site, a dolly about 15 feet away, the engine lost power and the helicopter settled to the ground with the engine running. The pilot checked all the gauges for any abnormal indication, and the engine responded to throttle travel, so he lifted to a hover and started to move toward the dolly. When the helicopter was halfway over the dolly, there were more oscillations and it became harder to control. The helicopter then started to drift to the left, and the engine lost power. The pilot was unable to stop the drift or the descent. As the helicopter touched down, the left skid collapsed and the helicopter slid, rolled onto its left side, and came to rest against a fence. Examination of the helicopter revealed no mechanical deficiencies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while maneuvering to land after a loss of engine power. A factor was the loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/27/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1615
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City LEXINGTON
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 40512
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 380221N
Event Location Longitude 0843632W
Event Location Airport Private Helipad in Lexington
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 979
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1354 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID LEX
Elevation of weather observation facility 979
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
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) 29.85
Density Altitude (feet) 1986
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) 15288
NTSB Notification Source SROC
NTSB Notification Date Mar 28 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2004 3:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office LOUSIVILLE FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N47SN
NTSB Number IAD03LA042
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 BHT-47-G3B2A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 6860
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 5 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 8815
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WHITAKER BANK CORPORATION OF KENTUCKY
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City LEXINGTON
Aircraft Owner State KY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 14037
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City LEXINGTON
Departure State KY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone EST
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 Approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 15 2004 12:37PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --