Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Decatur, Texas 76234
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 13:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During lift off from soft uneven terrain, the rear portion of the helicopter's right main skid came in contact with the ground resulting in a dynamic rollover. The pilot reported that the terrain he departed from was "clumpy and lumpy with ruts of grass approximately 1 to 2 feet in height." As he started to lift the helicopter off the ground, he made a slow ascent rate. When the skids were about 1 foot above the ground, he said, "the helicopter stopped for a split second as if something had caught some portion of the right side of the helicopter and the helicopter began a slight lateral roll to the right." The pilot further reported that he recognized the problem too late as he applied full left cyclic and lowered the collective after the helicopter exceeded the critical angle of bank into the low skid to a point where the situation was unrecoverable, and it rolled 90 degrees to the right. No mechanical deficiencies with the engine or airframe were noted. The Rotorcraft Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21), page11-7, described dynamic rollover as, "the pivoting around a skid or landing gear wheel of a helicopter causing it to reach its critical rollover angle. Beyond this point, main rotor thrust continues the roll and recovery is impossible."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during liftoff after encountering dynamic rollover. A contributing factor was the rough and uneven terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/18/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Decatur |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76234 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331501N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0973450W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 1328 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LUD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 104 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15525 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SW COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 18 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Worth |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16MV |
| NTSB Number | FTW04TA075 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4040 |
| 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 | Jan 3 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 4258.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Skylane Helicopters |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 1110 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Decatur |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76234 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | U.S. Forestry Services |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1720 Peachtree Road NW Suite 900 |
| Operator City | Atlanta |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30309 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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 Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Decatur |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2004 4:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |