Denton Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denton, Texas 76262
Monday, August 9, 2004 16:40 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 2,800-hour flight instructor reported that while practicing hovering autorotations, the 40-hour student pilot applied full forward cyclic and full collective while reducing throttle. As the flight instructor applied full aft cyclic and lowered the collective, the helicopter pitched forward and the skids contacted the ground. Subsequently, the helicopter rolled to the left and came to rest on its left side.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter and the instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight by his delay in taking remedial action.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/9/2004
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1640
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Denton
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76262
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331202N
Event Location Longitude 0971152W
Event Location Airport Denton Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DTO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 642
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16528
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 9 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1805
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2004 10:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N204LH
NTSB Number FTW04LA209
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Schweizer
Aircraft Model 269C-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0172
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
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 Jul 24 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27
Airframe Hours 224
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Longhorn Helicopters Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 109 Seminole Drive
Aircraft Owner City Trophy Club
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76262
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 DTO
Departure City Denton
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1540
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Hover - in ground effect
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2004 3:56PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
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 --