Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rutland, South Dakota 57057
Friday, October 10, 2008 18:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter pilot reported that during the local area flight he heard "loud noises" behind the cockpit that were followed by a loss of torque to the rotor system. He immediately initiated an autorotation into a cornfield. The tailboom stinger contacted the ground during the landing flare, which pushed the tailboom up into the path of the main rotor system. The helicopter then landed hard and rolled over onto its right side. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented if he had initiated his flare about two feet higher, but at the time he was unsure of his altitude above the ground due to the corn crop and the dusk light condition. A postaccident inspection of the helicopter revealed that one of the transmission drive belts had failed and another belt had separated from its pulley assembly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of torque due to a failure of a transmission drivebelt and the pilot's delayed landing flare during the autorotation. Contributing to the accident was the dusk light condition and the corn crop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/10/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1850 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rutland |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57057 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440538N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0965802W |
| 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 | 1855 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBKX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1648 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24697 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2009 9:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N162NJ |
| NTSB Number | CEN09CA026 |
| 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 | Holland |
| Aircraft Model | Rotorway 162F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6064 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 17 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 261 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Randal Holland |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 21305 South Dakota Highway 25 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Desmet |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57231 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Brian Donald Woldt |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 46242 230th Street |
| Operator City | Wentworth |
| Operator State | SD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 57075 |
| 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 | PVT |
| Departure City | Wentworth |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1840 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Wentworth |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2008 4:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| 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 | -- |