Grand Prairie Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grand Prairie, Texas 75052
Thursday, December 21, 2006 15:10 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While performing a practice 180-degree autorotation, the 5,943-hour flight instructor observed that the student would not make the landing area. The flight instructor took over the helicopter controls and elected to land in the grass near the runway. The helicopter touched-down hard with low rotor energy and at a higher than normal touchdown speed. The helicopter proceeded to skid on the soft grass before digging in and rolling forward on its nose. The rotor blades subsequently impacted the ground before the helicopter rolled and came to rest on its right side. The pilot did not report any abnormalities with the helicopter's flight controls. The winds at the time of the mishap were reported from 260-degrees at 6 knots. The practice area used for the practice autorotations was aligned on a heading of 170-degrees.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight instructor's inadequate remedial action which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the practice autorotation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/21/2006
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1510
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Grand Prairie
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75052
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324155N
Event Location Longitude 0970249W
Event Location Airport Grand Prairie Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KGPM
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 588
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1455 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GPM
Elevation of weather observation facility 588
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
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) 21613
NTSB Notification Source American Eurocopter
NTSB Notification Date Dec 21 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2007 1:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N171AE
NTSB Number DFW07LA043
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 Eurocopter
Aircraft Model EC120B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1377
Certified Max Gross Weight 3780
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 777
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Wells Fargo Bank
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84111
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name American Eurocopter
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2701 Forum Drive
Operator City Grand Prairie
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 75052
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 No
Departure Airport Code GPM
Departure City Grand Prairie
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone CST
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 7 2007 2:22PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --