Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
Thursday, August 5, 2004 12:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter was substantially damaged when the main rotor contacted an open hangar door during takeoff and the helicopter subsequently impacted the ground. The pilot stated that the helicopter was parked on the ramp approximately 35 feet from the hangar. The bi-fold hangar door was open and extended about 10 feet out over the ramp. He stated that after takeoff, as the aircraft began to move away from the hangar, the passenger in the left front seat "accidentally and inadvertently hit or bumped the counterweight portion of the cyclic." The helicopter drifted toward the open hangar door and before he could correct the drift the main rotor clipped the bottom edge of the door. He recalled: "I quickly maneuvered away from the hangar building and began to level the aircraft." The helicopter descended to the ramp. The subsequent hard landing caused the skids to collapse and the main rotor to sever the tail boom. A ground witness to the accident submitted a video recording of the accident flight. Review of the recording revealed that after the helicopter lifted-off, it paused in a hover for a few seconds and then began to climb out, subsequently contacting the door. No drift toward the hangar building was observed prior to rotor blade contact with the door.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning due to his selection of an unsuitable takeoff area and his failure to maintain clearance from the open hangar door. A contributing factor was the open hangar door.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/5/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1200
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Chesterfield
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63005
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383944N
Event Location Longitude 0903907W
Event Location Airport Spirit of St. Louis
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1154 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 463
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2600
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KSUS 051654Z 36011KT 10SM SCT026 23/17 A3008
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17898
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 5 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1550
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2005 10:33AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-St. Louis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7036J
NTSB Number CHI04LA212
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 Robinson
Aircraft Model R44
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0583
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 31
Airframe Hours 1149
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Midwest Aeronautical Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3511 Silverside Road -- Suite 105
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19810
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Midwest Aeronautical Training, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 517 Bell Avenue
Operator City Chesterfield
Operator State MO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 63005
Operator Code --
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SUS
Departure City Chesterfield
Departure State MO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
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 Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 26 2005 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --