Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Decatur County Industrial Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bainbridge, Georgia 39817
Saturday, May 17, 2003 9:55 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated he had just completed refueling and picked the helicopter up to a hover. He hovered over to another position on the ramp and turned the helicopter into the wind. He lowered the collective pitch and set the helicopter down hard on the ramp. The right rear skid contacted the ground and the aircraft began to shutter. After completing the engine shutdown he exited the helicopter and noticed that the tail boom support spar was cracked, the skin on both sides of the tailboom was wrinkled, and the star flex composite lead lag stabilizer was broken. Review of pilots records revealed the pilot had 7.5 total hours in the AS355 helicopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper flare during an attempted landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 955 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bainbridge |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 39817 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 305829N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843824W |
| Event Location Airport | Decatur County Industrial Park |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BGE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 141 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1003 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BGE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 141 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1980 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14156 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 17 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N42AT |
| NTSB Number | ATL03LA095 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS355F2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5462 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 16 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 2379 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Betaco |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6969 W 79th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Indianapolis |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46278 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | American Trans Air Executive Jet Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7661 N Perimeter Road |
| Operator City | Indianapolis |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 46251 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BGE |
| Departure City | Bainbridge |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 955 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHA |
| Destination City | Chattanooga |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2003 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |