Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arlington, Minnesota 55307
Friday, September 6, 2013 10:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After taking off, the pilot applied pesticides to a field and proceeded to the next field located about 3 miles away. While en route, the pilot wanted to call his truck driver over the two-way radio. However, the radio connection to his helmet was unplugged, so he reached to plug it in with his right hand while his left hand transferred from the collective to the cyclic. Immediately after he plugged in the radio connection to his helmet, the collective slammed into the full-down position. The pilot then quickly grabbed the collective and raised it up. He noticed that the helicopter was losing altitude, that the main rotor rpm was decreasing, and that the engine rpm and main rotor rpm needles were split. He twisted the throttle control back and forth with no effect and then attempted to autorotate. The helicopter touched down hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the tailboom. Examination of the helicopter did not reveal any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Also, a review of the maintenance logbooks for the helicopter did not show any entries regarding malfunctions with the collective control during previous flights, and the helicopter operated normally during the first flight of the day.
The pilot stated that he could have chosen to not unplug his helmet and keep his hand on the collective control at all times, which would have prevented the collective from slamming down while he was connecting his radio cables to his helmet. This model helicopter does not have a friction control mechanism on the collective control, and, if it is not held in place by the pilot, it can move up or down during flight. It is likely that, when the pilot removed his hand from the collective control and was distracted with plugging in his helmet radio connection, the collective moved to the full-down position and that he did not have enough altitude to recover the helicopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the helicopter while maneuvering when he removed his hand from the collective control while plugging in his radio connection to his helmet, which resulted in the collective moving to the full-down position.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/6/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Arlington |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55307 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443712N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0940849W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 754 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 11 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NWS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 30 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 32412 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 3 2014 1:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9005T |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA537 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CONTINENTAL COPTERS INC. |
| Aircraft Model | TOMCAT MK5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CCI-74-1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2850 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 0 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 3 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 5734 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Scotts Helicopter Services Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 92 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Le Sueur |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56058 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Scotts Helicopter Services Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 92 |
| Operator City | Le Sueur |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 56058 |
| Operator Code | CUH |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | CHUG150S |
| 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 Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Arlington |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 920 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Arlington |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 3 2014 1:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| 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 | -- |