Hampton Roads Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Norfolk, Virginia 23501
Tuesady, June 15, 2004 18:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was conducting his third supervised solo flight, and had completed two takeoffs and landings. During his third landing attempt, after the helicopter contacted the ground, it began to vibrate violently. The student pilot was not able to stop the vibration, before the helicopter began to break apart. The accident was witnessed by the student pilot's flight instructor, who stated he utilized a hand-held radio to tell the student to pick up the helicopter, in order to recover. Examination of the landing skid dampers revealed that they were improperly charged. The helicopter had been operated for 371 hours since it's most recent annual inspection, which was performed about 6 months prior to the accident. The helicopter had been operated for 85 hours since it's most recent 100-hour inspection. The student pilot had accumulated 22 hours of total flight experience, all in the same make and model as the accident helicopter.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter, which resulted ground resonance. Contributing to the accident was the improperly serviced landing gear dampers.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/15/2004
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1820
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Norfolk
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 23501
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 364653N
Event Location Longitude 0762655W
Event Location Airport Hampton Roads Executive
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PVG
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 23
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1855 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID NGU
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 12000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 17623
NTSB Notification Source RIC FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jun 22 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 845
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2005 2:59PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Richmond

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2065T
NTSB Number NYC04LA142
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 146
Certified Max Gross Weight 1900
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 Dec 23 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 371
Airframe Hours 1404
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aerial Resources LLC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Chesapeake
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 23321
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PVG
Departure City Norfolk
Departure State VA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PVG
Destination City Norfolk
Destination State VA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight 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 --