Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Florence, Arizona 85232
Saturday, October 11, 2008 9:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was preparing to land the helicopter at an off airport landing site and encountered a wind shift or wind shear on base leg that resulted in an uncommanded yaw followed by a rapid descent rate. Before impacting the ground the pilot was able to reduce the descent rate and level the helicopter. The accident site was desert terrain that sloped downward from the right to the left. During the accident sequence the helicopter rolled over. The pilot said that people on the ground told him that just prior to the accident there was a sudden wind storm that passed through the area that forced the people on the ground to take shelter inside an enclosure to escape the wind. The pilot stated that he had no communication with the people at the landing site and no knowledge of the wind storm. The pilot further stated that the helicopter and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. The closest weather observation station, located 25 miles to the west, was reporting westerly winds at 20 knots, with gusts to 26 knots, at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s inadequate compensation for a wind shift encountered during the landing approach, which resulted in a hard landing and rollover. Contributing to the accident was the encounter with the wind shift.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/11/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Florence |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85232 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325918N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1112028W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 935 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CGZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1463 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 26 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| 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) | 24569 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 5 2008 1:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8567F |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA008 |
| 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 | 47J-2A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3714 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 9537 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Loflite LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1043 W IRIS DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | GILBERT |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85233-7916 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Loflite LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1043 W IRIS DR |
| Operator City | GILBERT |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85233-7916 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DVT |
| Departure City | Phoenix |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Florence |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2008 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |