Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Salt Lake City Int. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Friday, July 16, 2010 15:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had just landed the helicopter on a flatbed trailer when it was determined that it needed to be moved laterally in order for its skids to be correctly attached to the trailer. Therefore the pilot applied enough collective to make the helicopter "light on the skids," and then he applied cyclic input meant to slide the helicopter laterally. When the helicopter did not slide sideways as the pilot desired, he continued to apply left cyclic input, whereupon the helicopter suddenly began to move in a manner that resulted in it starting to fall off the trailer. During the pilot's attempt to regain directional control by lifting the helicopter clear of the trailer, its main rotor blades came in contact with the truck that the trailer was attached to. Once the blades contacted the truck, the helicopter rotated about 180 degrees and impacted the tarmac beside the trailer. Soon after it impacted the tarmac, a fast-growing fire began. During the accident sequence, an individual who was helping with the loading process was struck by a main rotor blade.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of directional control while attempting to move the helicopter laterally without first lifting it fully off its landing platform.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/16/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Salt Lake City |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84101 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404718N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115840W |
| Event Location Airport | Salt Lake City Int. |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSLC |
| 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 | 4227 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| 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) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 1 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 1 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27493 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center (SEA) |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 21 2010 5:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N944DW |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA354 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10439 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Jul 6 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2195 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Veracity Leasing LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 7967 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Missoula |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59807 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Pathfinder Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 180N 2400W #3 |
| Operator City | Salt Lake City |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84116 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KSLC |
| Departure City | Salt Lake City |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KSLC |
| Destination City | Salt Lake City |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 22 2010 6:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |