Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bolinder Field - Tooele Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tooele, Utah 84074
Saturday, April 8, 2006 11:05 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the flight instructor, he and his student had landed at the airport to refuel before continuing their lesson. The wind speed was "17 gusting 24" knots. He restarted the helicopter and hovered to position it for takeoff. He began a climb to the southwest with an indicated airspeed of 45 knots. The instructor said that "upon reaching an altitude of 50-70 feet agl, the aircraft ceased climbing" and "began to be pushed aft and down." He attempted to regain control but was unsuccessful. The helicopter struck the ground in a level attitude, the front of the left skid caught in the soft uneven ground, and the helicopter rolled left. The main rotor blade struck the tail cone, and the helicopter came to rest on its left side. The pilot indicated there was no mechanical malfunction or failure of the helicopter prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during the takeoff initial climb, which resulted in an in-flight collision with the ground. A contributing factor was the gusty wind condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/8/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1105 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tooele |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84074 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403644N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1122103W |
| Event Location Airport | Bolinder Field - Tooele Valley |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TVY |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20223 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N921U |
| NTSB Number | SEA06CA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3566 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tumbleweed Leasing Company Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Upper Limit Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Salt Lake City |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TVY |
| Departure City | Tooele |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SLC |
| Destination City | Salt Lake City |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2006 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |