Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenville Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenville, South Carolina 29607
Saturday, November 15, 2003 10:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the certified flight instructor (CFI), while conducting an instructional flight an autorotation was performed. After the autorotation the CFI brought the helicopter to a hover, and then climbed to an altitude of approximately 200 feet for another practice autorotation. The helicopter briefly shuttered and the aft section of the tail boom separated from the airframe. The helicopter began spinning and came to rest in a thicket of pine trees. According to a witness at the scene of the practice autorotation, he recalled hearing a loud "pop" when the helicopter touched down. The CFI did not hear or feel anything unusual during or after the autorotation, and reported a normal takeoff. A survey of the first touchdown point revealed a pie shaped piece of blue metal on the ground. Further examination revealed the pie shaped piece of metal fit an area on the tail boom. Examination revealed the main rotor blades had blue paint on the tips. No mechanical or flight control malfunctions were reported by the CFI.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper landing flare, resulting in a hard landing and a main rotor/tailboom strike.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Greenville |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29607 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 345031N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822100W |
| Event Location Airport | GREENVILLE DOWNTOWN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GMU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 1048 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GMU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1048 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| 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) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 342 |
| 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) | 17390 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N536 |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA037 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | OH-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 58-0504 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 3797 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MG Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 5188 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greenville |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29606 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GMU |
| Departure City | GREENVILLE |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |