Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wakulla County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Panacea, Florida 32346
Saturday, February 8, 2014 19:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On February 8, 2014, about 1945 eastern standard time, a Robinson R-44 II, N571AC, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain after takeoff from Wakulla County Airport (2J0), Panacea, Florida. The private pilot and one passenger were fatally injured, and another passenger sustained serious injuries. The helicopter was registered to Capital Helicopters, LLC, and was operated by a private individual. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which was destined for Tallahassee Regional Airport (TLH), Tallahassee, Florida. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The helicopter had landed at 2J0 earlier in the day with the pilot and two passengers onboard. After eating at a local restaurant the pilot and passengers were transported back to the airport, where they arrived at approximately 1930 for their return flight to TLH. According to the surviving passenger, the pilot stated they would have to "back up" the helicopter prior to takeoff. The helicopter then departed the airport and, moments later, the passenger called out the pilot's name as they impacted trees.
A witness at the airp ort reported seeing the helicopter parked "facing south" prior to its departure. He did not observe the helicopter take off, but after hearing a loud "snap," he drove to the end of his driveway, where he heard the passenger calling for help.
The wreckage was located in a marsh bordered by trees, about 353 feet northwest of the departure end of runway 36. The tree tops located next to the main wreckage exhibited impact markings approximately 50 feet above ground level. The main wreckage was oriented about 24 degrees magnetic, and came to rest inverted in several feet of water. The main rotor blades both exhibited coning in the negative direction, but remained attached to the main rotor mast with the exception of the trailing edge of one of the blades, which had been impact separated. The tailboom was separated from the fuselage and was co-located with the main wreckage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Panacea |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32346 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 295922N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0842328W |
| Event Location Airport | WAKULLA COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2J0 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 11 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 53 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 5 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTLH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 68 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KTLH 090053Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 11/08 A3015 RM |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern CROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 14 2014 8:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N571AC |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA115 |
| 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 | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10602 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 15 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 946 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAPITAL HELICOPTERS LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 323086245 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Terry Ooten |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 323086245 |
| 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 | 2J0 |
| Departure City | Panacea |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TLH |
| Destination City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 14 2014 8:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2590 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |