Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cranston, Rhode Island 02920
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 16:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was performing a series of passes for a ground camera, at an altitude of about 350 feet AGL, and an indicated airspeed of 20 to 25 knots. Three passes were completed into the wind with no problems. On the fourth pass, the pilot noticed the wind had changed from a headwind to a 90 degree left crosswind of about 10 to 15 knots. At the same time, the nose of the helicopter drifted right and he was unable to regain control prior to ground impact. A check of the FAA Advisory Circular on Unanticipated Right Yaw revealed the wind change placed the helicopter in situation where he was susceptible to loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent encounter with loss of tail rotor effectiveness. A factor was the wind change.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/26/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Cranston |
| Event State | RHODE ISLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02920 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414433N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0712708W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 210 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 7 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1002 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15781 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 26 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 | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boston, Massachusetts |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N90013 |
| NTSB Number | NYC04LA039 |
| 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 | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1464 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 2 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PNC Leasing |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2 PNC Plaza, 620 Liberty Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pittsburgh |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 15222 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Horsham Valley Airways |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 450 Caredean Drive |
| Operator City | Horsham |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19044 |
| Operator Code | CDBR |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVD |
| Departure City | Providence |
| Departure State | RI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVD |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2004 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |