Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brandywine Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380
Tuesady, November 4, 2008 7:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/builder of the amateur-built Rotorway Exec 162-F stated that while hovering the helicopter over a taxiway, he initiated a 180-degree left pedal turn. During the turn, the helicopter rolled right and impacted the ground on its right side. The helicopter had accumulated about 4 total flight hours since the pilot had completed building it. The pilot reported that he possessed about 2,000 total hours of flight experience, with 24 hours in rotorcraft (all of which were in the accident helicopter make and model). Additionally, the pilot also held a solo endorsement to fly the accident helicopter make and model. The pilot reported that there were no problems with the performance and handling of the helicopter. The pilot further stated that he believed he may have been hovering the helicopter closer to the ground than he had previously thought while performing the pedal turn, and that one of the skids may have impacted the pavement during the turn and initiated the rollover.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance above terrain while performing a pedal turn.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/4/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | West Chester |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19380 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395924N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0753454W |
| Event Location Airport | Brandywine Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OQN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 466 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 740 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MWS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 660 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.41 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24796 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Philadelphia FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 15 2008 10:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8286D |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA042 |
| 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 | SUNDT DANIEL N |
| Aircraft Model | Rotorway Exec 162-F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6742 |
| 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 | Sep 11 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SUNDT DANIEL N |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BRYN MAWR |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19010-2038 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | SUNDT DANIEL N |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BRYN MAWR |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19010-2038 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OQN |
| Departure City | West Chester |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | OQN |
| Destination City | West Chester |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 15 2008 10:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |