Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Felda, Florida
Sunday, September 29, 2013 11:11 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On September 29, 2013, at 1109 eastern daylight time, an unregistered Innovator Technologies Mosquito XEL Helicopter, crashed during a landing attempt at Lazy Springs Recreation Park, Felda, Florida. The non-certificated pilot was seriously injured and the helicopter was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight, which was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91.
According to a witness, the pilot liked to fly the helicopter whenever he had a chance. On the day of the accident, the pilot had trailered the helicopter into the park to do some flying in the local area. The takeoff was uneventful, but instead of the pilot going out and flying around an area for 30 to 45 minutes which was his usual habit, approximately 10 minutes later he returned and attempted to land. As the helicopter was approximately 30 feet from touchdown it seemed to be "unstable" and began to oscillate from side to side. The pilot then aborted the landing and flew off for a few minutes and then returned. This time as the helicopter was once again about 30 feet from touchdown, it began spinning to the left and impacted the ground. A postcrash fire then ensued. The pilot was pulled out of the wreckage by the witness and another person, and was later airlifted to a hospital.
Review of the helicopter manufacturer's paperwork for the helicopter revealed that it was configured for use under 14 CFR Part 103 however, the pilot had changed the configuration of the helicopter by removing the floats, rendering it ineligible for operation under the Part 103 ultralight regulations.
Examination of the accident site and wreckage revealed that the helicopter came to rest on a 15 degree embankment on the edge of a 27 acre lake, on a heading of 095 degrees magnetic. The cabin, seat, floor panel, and tail boom sections had been consumed by the postcrash fire.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1111 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Felda |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263121N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0813330W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RSW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA South Florida FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2013 5:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N/A |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA437 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | INNOVATOR TECHNOLOGIES |
| Aircraft Model | MOSQUITO XEL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MXE 1195 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 610 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald Durden |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Myers |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33901 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Donald Durden |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fort Myers |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33901 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | Felda |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Felda |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2013 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |