Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bountiful-Skypark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bountiful, Utah 84087
Saturday, June 28, 2003 17:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was hover taxiing from the west side of the airport to his hangar on the east side. He said he had lifted the helicopter "up to about a three-foot hover," when the cyclic started to rotate "in about a six to eight inch circle" in his hand. The pilot reported he heard a "low pitch or frequency oscillation." The pilot said, "The helicopter started a strong uncontrollable roll to the left. I tried to push the cyclic to the right but found no change in stopping the roll or direction of movement." The pilot said that he knew there were airplanes and people in the direction the helicopter was heading. The pilot said he decided to put the helicopter down on its side to stop any further movement. A witness saw the helicopter lift off the ramp to approximately 3 to 5 feet. The tail rotor then struck the ramp and the helicopter impacted on its left side. An examination of the helicopter showed substantial damage to the main rotor blades, tail rotor, skids, and cockpit area. An examination of the helicopter's systems revealed no anomalies. The wind conditions in the area, approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident were 350 degrees at 11 knots with gusts to 16 knots. According to the mechanic who had performed the previous annual inspection on the helicopter, when in hover, the helicopter would experience a small amount of stick swirl. The mechanic said that "if you work it, it [the swirl] will go away."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot not maintaining aircraft control during the aerial taxi. Factors contributing to the accident were the oscillating cyclic, the pilot's diverted attention, and the gusting crosswind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bountiful |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84087 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405205N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115538W |
| Event Location Airport | Bountiful-Skypark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BTF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 4234 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1656 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SLC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4227 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7164 |
| 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) | 14580 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 29 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| 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 | Salt Lake City, UT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3623U |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA115 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1568 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 3667.5 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | K & T Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box AMF 22112 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84122 |
| 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 | BTF |
| Departure City | Bountiful |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BTF |
| Destination City | Bountiful |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - to takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2003 3:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |