Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Petersburg, Florida 33713
Tuesady, July 24, 2012 19:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the helicopter's last annual inspection had been completed 12 years prior to the accident. On the day of the accident, he decided to fly it to lubricate the parts. After liftoff, he brought the helicopter to a hover about 25 feet in the air and initiated some pedal turns. The nose of the helicopter then began to drift toward the right. He applied left pedal but the helicopter didn’t respond. The helicopter then circled 6 to 8 times, so the pilot lowered the collective, and the helicopter impacted the ground on the left skid, struck a fence, and then rolled over on its left side.
However, according to witnesses, the helicopter was about 50 feet in the air, did not circle but moved side to side, and was described as being out of control before it impacted the ground. Total flight time from liftoff to impact was about 2 minutes in duration. Postaccident examination did not reveal any preimpact failures or malfunctions of the helicopter which would have precluded normal operation. However, the cyclic control system would not move freely because the lateral friction control was tightened down. Once the lateral friction control was released, lateral movement of the cyclic control was possible.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to assure that the lateral friction control was released prior to flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | St. Petersburg |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33713 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 274848N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824053W |
| 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 | 1900 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SPG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSPG 242353Z 25006KT 10SM CLR 29/26 A3003 RM |
| 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) | 31643 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern 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 24 2013 11:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9679F |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA477 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | HUGHES |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 310103 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 5 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2393 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wayne Parker |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ST PETERSBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33714 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Wayne Parker |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | ST PETERSBURG |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33714 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | St. Petersburg |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1850 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | St. Petersburg |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2013 11:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |