Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
East Troy Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
East Troy, Wisconsin 53120
Saturday, May 13, 2006 10:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was damaged when it struck a pole adjacent to a hangar during takeoff. The helicopter was configured to seat four occupants with four seatbelts. There were five occupants on-board at the time of the accident, and a 2 year, 8 month old child, who was not seat belted, was ejected from the helicopter. Federal Aviation Administration regulations require that all occupants that have reached their second birthday wear a seat belt during takeoff, landing and ground movement of an aircraft. The pilot reported that he started to lift off to a hover and the helicopter "bolted forward." He stated that he attempted to stop the forward movement and at the same time tried to avoid the hangar and the "weather pole" by the hangar. No anomalies were found with regard to the helicopter or its systems. The pilot informed the National Transportation Safety board investigator that he did not calculate the center of gravity, and only calculated the weight prior to flight. Separate center of gravity calculations were performed using passenger weights as understood by the pilot and actual passenger weights obtained during the investigation. The center of gravity was found to be 2.4 inches and 2.9 inches forward of the forward limit respectively by each calculation using these weights. In addition, the takeoff gross weight was found to be 57 pounds over the maximum gross weight limit using the actual passenger weights. The Federal Aviation Administration Rotorcraft Flying Handbook states that a forward center of gravity can be recognized when coming to a hover by a nose low attitude and excessive rearward displacement of the cyclic control to maintain hover. The handbook further states that further flight should not be continued when this condition exists. A video of the accident taken by a witness on the ground does not show a hover prior to forward movement, nor does it show an attempt to abort the takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to calculate the weight and balance of the helicopter prior to flight, his failure to recognize and correct the forward center of gravity condition and his failure to abort the takeoff. A factors was the pilot's improper decision to conduct the flight without seatbelts available for all passengers.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/13/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | East Troy |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53120 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 424750N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0882221W |
| Event Location Airport | EAST TROY MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 57C |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 860 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1055 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BUU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 779 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.64 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBUU 131355Z AUTO 03004KT 7SM -DZ BKN009 OVC |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21421 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 13 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N442GS |
| NTSB Number | CHI06FA128 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0683 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1089.5 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WW Helicopters LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2085 Highway L Hangar I 1 |
| Aircraft Owner City | East Troy |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53120 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 57C |
| Departure City | East Troy |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| 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? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2007 8:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |