Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Selfridge Air Natl Guard Base Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mt. Clemens, Michigan 48045
Sunday, August 21, 2011 13:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident occurred during an air show routine as a wing walker attempted an aerial transfer from an airplane to a helicopter. The pilots of both aircraft reported that the aerial transfer was planned to occur on the third pass along the air show line. The initial passes went according to plan. However, on the third pass, the wing walker attempted to grab the helicopter skid before the two aircraft reached the briefed transfer point. The helicopter pilot stated that the wing walker released his hold on the airplane handle and lunged with both hands for the helicopter skid before the aircraft were in position. He reported that the wing walker attempted to go back to the airplane, but was unable to grab on to anything. The wing walker subsequently fell, impacting a grass area within the air show performance area. Both aircraft involved landed safely after the accident, without damage to either aircraft. The wing walker sustained fatal injuries.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The wing walker’s decision to release his grip of the airplane during an attempted aerial transfer from airplane to helicopter before both aircraft achieved the proper relative positioning for the transfer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1335 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mt. Clemens |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48045 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423630N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0825008W |
| Event Location Airport | Selfridge Air Natl Guard Base |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MTC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 580 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1355 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MTC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 580 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29679 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 27 2012 10:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N49739 | N7505B |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA606A | CEN11LA606B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | None | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING | SCHWEIZER |
| Aircraft Model | A75N1(PT17) | HUGHES 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-4462 | S1205 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 | 2105 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 15 2011 12:00AM | Dec 20 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 8390 | 5782 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John R Mohr | Helibatics LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Vadnais Heights | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55127-6150 | 19803-3158 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes | No |
| Operator Name | John R Mohr | Helibatics LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | Vadnais Heights | Wilmington |
| Operator State | MN | DE |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55127-6150 | 19803-3158 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | 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) | Air Race/Show | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MTC | MTC |
| Departure City | Mt. Clemens | Mt. Clemens |
| Departure State | MI | MI |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MTC | MTC |
| Destination City | Mt. Clemens | Mt. Clemens |
| Destination State | MI | MI |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 25 2012 3:01PM | Jan 25 2012 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort | sort |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |