Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Billings Logan International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Billings, Montana 59105
Tuesady, August 10, 2010 8:18 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the airplane approached the airport, the pilot was given clearance to land on runway 28L. The pilot reported that he also heard the tower controller tell an inbound helicopter to follow him. Review of a recording of the tower communications revealed that the controller actually instructed the helicopter to pass behind the airplane and cleared the helicopter to land on taxiway H in the opposite direction of the airplane. (Taxiway H was south of and parallel to runway 28L with a taxiway centerline to runway centerline distance of about 200 feet.) About 1 1/2 minutes later, the tower controller told the airplane pilot that there was a helicopter on his left side and that it would be landing on the taxiway adjacent to the runway. The airplane pilot did not acknowledge the transmission.
The airplane pilot said that he was planning to fly the airplane low over the runway and land long to expedite his ground taxi. As the airplane pilot flew low over the approach end of the runway, he was surprised to see the helicopter flying towards him. He thought it was flying over the edge of his runway and that its rotor wash would impact his airplane. However, radar data from an antenna located on the airport indicated that the two aircraft were horizontally separated by about 300 feet when they passed each other at a point about 885 feet from the approach end of the runway. Additionally, the helicopter pilot reported that his landing on taxiway H was accomplished about 300 feet from the airplane.
The airplane pilot stated that just as he was passing the helicopter, his left wing tip was violently slammed down. The airplane veered right about 30 to 40 degrees, stalled, and impacted the ground. A witness observed the airplane's left wing strike the runway before the airplane veered right off the runway and over the grass. Airport operations personnel located a yellow paint transfer mark on the runway surface about 1,616 feet from the approach end of the runway. The location and paint color of the transfer mark were consistent with the airplane's left wing tip impacting the runway when the airplane's fuselage was over the runway's right edge. Radar data indicated that, at the time the airplane produced the mark, the helicopter was more than 1,350 feet away.
At the time, the airplane was landing with a direct crosswind of about 6 knots from the left.
The FAA Aeronautical Information Manual states that "Pilots of small aircraft should avoid operating within three rotor diameters of any helicopter in a slow hover taxi or stationary hover." Since this helicopter's main rotor disc diameter was about 33.5 feet, the recommended distance to maintain from small airplanes in order to prevent downwash encounters was about 100 feet. Additionally, a representative from the helicopter manufacturer's safety department said that a helicopter descending during air taxiing and with a forward speed of about 58 mph, the helicopter's ground speed when it passed the airplane, would produce significantly less downwash relative to what it would produce when static hovering or hover taxiing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain lateral and directional control of the airplane during landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 818 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Billings |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59105 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 454827N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1083314W |
| Event Location Airport | Billings Logan International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BIL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3652 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 826 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3652 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28485 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 8 2011 3:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2660A |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA393 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA18A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-2184 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| 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 | Jun 16 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2850 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 172 LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 633 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Park City |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59063 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | 172 LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 633 |
| Operator City | Park City |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59063 |
| 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 | 6S8 |
| Departure City | Laurel |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BIL |
| Destination City | Billings |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2011 3:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28L |
| Runway Length | 3801 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |