Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
North Palm Beach County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Palm Beach, Florida 33412
Saturday, August 16, 2003 11:46 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The CFI and student in the Robinson helicopter had been flying for approximately 46 minutes and the CFI elected to finish the training session with her demonstration of a 180-degree autorotation. The pilot of the Piper airplane had been towing gliders earlier and after landing following another tow, the next glider was connected. An occupant of the helicopter announced on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), "North County traffic helicopter one Zulu Gulf is turning left downwind at (500) feet for practice one eighty autorotation North County." The pilot of the Piper airplane reported seeing the helicopter just starting the downwind leg and made an announcement on the CTAF announcing his takeoff. The transmissions recorded on the CTAF did not include ground communications. Witnesses noted the helicopter on the downwind leg while the airplane began the takeoff roll. The helicopter was then observed to make a left turn and was noted by the pilot of the glider being towed to be slightly above and behind to his left and was paralleling the flight path of the airplane. The airplane and helicopter collided; following which, the airplane continued straight ahead for a short distance before descending nose and left-wing low into a marsh. The helicopter impacted the ground. Postaccident examination of both aircraft revealed the main rotor of the helicopter contacted the left main landing gear tire and section of leading edge of the left wing of the airplane. The airport did not have a memorandum of agreement with any operators at the airport pertaining to helicopter and fixed wing operations to runway 8L.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The poor judgment by the pilot-in-command of the airplane for his initiation of takeoff after the helicopter pilot had announced intention to perform a 180-degree autorotation to the runway, and the failure of both pilots to maintain visual lookout resulting in the in-flight collision.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1146 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Palm Beach |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33412 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 265043N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801317W |
| Event Location Airport | North Palm Beach County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | F45 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 22 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18500 |
| NTSB Notification Source | West Palm Beach County SD |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 16 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1201 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8785L | N341ZG |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA162A | MIA03LA162B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-5471 | 2246 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 30 2003 12:00AM | Jul 25 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13.53 | 21.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 5994 | 1730.3 |
| ELT Installed | No | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Barry Aviation, Inc. | Ocean Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 717 | 11550 Aviation Blvd., Suite 1 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Land O' Lakes | West Palm Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 54540 | 33412 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Barry Aviation Florida, Inc. | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 11600 Aviation Blvd., Suite 16 | -- |
| Operator City | West Palm Beach | -- |
| Operator State | FL | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 33412 | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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) | Other Work Use | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | F45 | F45 |
| Departure City | West Palm Beach | West Palm Beach |
| Departure State | FL | -- |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1146 | 1058 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | F45 | F45 |
| Destination City | West Palm Beach | West Palm Beach |
| Destination State | FL | FL |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 28 2005 10:13AM | Jul 28 2005 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8L | 8L |
| Runway Length | 2000 | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |