Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Edward F Knapp Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Berlin, Vermont 05641
Friday, June 5, 2009 12:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The experimental amateur-built helicopter was approaching an airport when witnesses heard a “pop noise” and saw it nose down, “straight into the ground.” The main wreckage was located about 360 feet from a treeline. There were no skid marks and no evidence of tree impact. The majority of the helicopter was consumed in a postcrash fire, which precluded a thorough examination. Debris from the aircraft was located about 1/2-mile from the accident site, on what would have been a left base to the runway. Additional items, including cabin door plexiglass material and a piece of horizontal stabilizer fin, extended aft of the impact site about 320 feet. The main rotor system was collapsed downward, and the swashplate assembly and flight control system were destroyed. The main rotor blades exhibited fire damage, and appeared to have “very little” impact damage, with no notable damage to the leading edges. The tail boom was melted from the fuselage attach point to 2 to 3 feet forward of the tail rotor gearbox, which was rotated without binding. The tail rotor blades were broken near their bases, and one blade was impaled in the ground. A postmortem examination of the pilot, who was also the builder, did not reveal any preaccident medical anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of control in flight for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/5/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Berlin |
| Event State | VERMONT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 05641 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441212N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0723344W |
| Event Location Airport | Edward F Knapp |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MPV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MPV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1165 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26881 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 15 2010 2:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N162RY |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA323 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | YORK RONALD J |
| Aircraft Model | ROTORWAY 162F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6673 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Jan 2 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 147 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | YORK RONALD J |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BARRE |
| Aircraft Owner State | VT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 05641-9618 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | YORK RONALD J |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Barre |
| Operator State | VT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 05641 |
| 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 | MPV |
| Departure City | Berlin |
| Departure State | VT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MPV |
| Destination City | Berlin |
| Destination State | VT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 4 2010 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 5002 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |