Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Baldwin, Florida 32234
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 11:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot of the helicopter, during a mosquito breeding inspection flight he entered a hover about 2 feet above a field of tall vegetation and "within 10-15 seconds the nose of the aircraft began to yaw to the right." The pilot corrected with full left anti-torque pedal and attempted to "enter into translational lift" as the helicopter continued to rotate. The right skid contacted the ground and the helicopter rolled onto its side, sustaining substantial damage to the main rotor blades, fuselage, and skids. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the helicopter prior to the accident. He recommended that, "inspection during a cooler part of the day or with presence of wind, or inspecting while moving forward could have prevented the accident." About the time of the accident an airport weather station about 6 miles southeast of the accident site reported variable winds at 5 knots and a temperature of 31 degrees Celsius.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of tail rotor effectiveness during a hover.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/4/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Baldwin |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32234 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 301840N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815648W |
| 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 | 1050 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 154 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VQQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 81 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KVQQ 041450Z VRB05KT 10SM SCT021 31/24 A3006 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27428 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern CROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 5 2010 5:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6143K |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA399 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SCHWEIZER |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S1750 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 1513 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HORSESHOE AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 4148 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOZEMAN |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59772-4148 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | City of Jacksonville Mosquito Control |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Jacksonville |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32218 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FA41 |
| Departure City | Jacksonville |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Baldwin |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 25 2010 9:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | laxl-i |
| 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 | -- |