Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Cherokee Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cherokee, North Carolina 28719
Saturday, April 30, 2005 18:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was repositioning the helicopter to the refueling area behind the helipad, to take on more fuel before flying his next sightseeing operation. He checked that all gauges were in normal operating ranges and that no warning lights were on. The pilot spooled up the helicopter to 100-percent and again, checked to make sure all gauges were in normal operating ranges. The pilot slowly began to raise the collective. The pilot stated that the front end of the helicopter started to raise up and the helicopter began to go backwards before fully off the ground. He continued raising the collective until he noticed that the right rear skid was buried into the gravel. The pilot pushed the collective down immediately and the helicopter rolled to the right onto its side and then came to rest inverted. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident. Examination of the accident site revealed a flat, gravel helipad. Examination of the wreckage revealed the helicopter inverted and the main rotor severed off. The roof of the cabin had crush damage and was detached from the rest of the cabin. Both main rotor blades were bent, the tip of one rotor blade was broken off and the tail rotor drive shaft was damaged. A passing automobile also sustained damage from flying helicopter debris.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper use of the helicopter flight controls during a hover that resulted in a dynamic rollover.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/30/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1845 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cherokee |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28719 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0831900W |
| Event Location Airport | Cherokee Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N/A |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1854 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2165 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| 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 | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18082 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 30 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2024 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO 33 Charlotte |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N66RR |
| NTSB Number | ATL05CA077 |
| 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 | 206L 1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45278 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 31 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 6931 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rock Alan Riggs |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 245 Mt. Vista Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pigeon Forge |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37863 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rock Alan Riggs |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 245 Mt Vista Dr |
| Operator City | Pigeon Forge |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 37863 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Cherokee |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1843 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Cherokee |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2005 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | n/a |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |