St Cloud Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St Cloud, Minnesota 56304
Monday, October 15, 2007 18:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he experienced a stuck microphone after takeoff and elected to return to the helipad for landing. He noted that reversing course for landing resulted in a right quartering tailwind on approach. The pilot reported that about 100 feet above ground level (agl), he noticed that the helicopter was not slowing down. His attempt to reduce the ground speed by "slipping" the aircraft was not successful. As the helicopter approached a line of trees, he turned toward an open area; however, the helicopter began to settle in the turn. He applied power in an attempt to reduce the descent rate and pitched up in order to position the helicopter for a hard landing. Although the descent rate began to decrease about 30 feet agl, the helicopter skids impacted the crest of a hill. The pilot added power and brought the helicopter to a hover, before landing near the heliport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to execute a go-around when a normal approach to the intended landing point could not be maintained. An additional cause was the excessive descent rate that developed during the approach. Contributing factors were the tailwind condition and the tree line.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/15/2007
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City St Cloud
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 56304
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 453312N
Event Location Longitude 0940424W
Event Location Airport St Cloud Muni
Event Location Nearest Airport ID STC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1031
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID STC
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2300
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.94
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22622
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 17 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2007 6:59AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-Minneapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N407LL
NTSB Number CHI08CA018
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 407
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 53561
Certified Max Gross Weight 5250
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 AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2333
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FCC Equipment Financing Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Jacksonville
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32258
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Air Methods, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Englewood
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80112
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code STC
Departure City St Cloud
Departure State MN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1824
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PVT
Destination City Buffalo
Destination State MN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 8 2007 4:47PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight Yes
Medical Flight --