Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Skypark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Salt Lake, Utah 84054
Tuesady, December 2, 2014 14:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 2, 2014, about 1400 mountain standard time, a Robinson R44 II helicopter, N3234U, impacted a two-story building while maneuvering near Skypark Airport (BTF), Bountiful, Utah. The commercial pilot-rated mechanic and passenger were fatally injured. The helicopter was substantially damaged. The helicopter was registered to Native Range Capture Services, Inc., Elko, Nevada and operated by Native Range Inc, Ventura, California. The local flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a post maintenance flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from BTF shortly before the accident.
Witnesses, who were in the area of the accident site, reportedly heard popping sounds then saw the main rotor and empennage separate from the helicopter as the helicopter flew overhead. Several of the witnesses then saw the helicopter tumble in flight and impact the top of a building. The main rotor blade and empennage impacted the ground a few hundred feet from the impacted building.
The owner of the helicopter reported that mechanics performed maintenance to the main rotor assembly and the purpose of the post-maintenance flight was to check the "track and balance" of the main rotor blades.
Examination of the accident site by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge revealed that the helicopter impacted the top of a two-story building about 2,000 feet southwest of the approach end of runway 34 at BTF. A post-impact fire occurred that was concentrated at the main wreckage. The main wreckage had impact damage and was partially damaged by postimpact fire. The main rotor and empennage were found within the wreckage debris field. The wreckage debris field was about 880 feet in length and about 400 feet in width and on a 277 degree magnetic heading. The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/2/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | North Salt Lake |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84054 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405128N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115526W |
| Event Location Airport | SKYPARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BTF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 168 |
| Airport Elevation | 4234 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 203 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSLC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4227 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 19000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSLC 022053Z 32003KT 10SM SCT150 BKN190 08/0 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC-Seattle, WA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 9 2014 12:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3234U |
| NTSB Number | WPR15FA051 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11654 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NATIVE RANGE CAPTURE SERVICES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | HENDERSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 890747739 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Native Range Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ventura |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BTF |
| Departure City | BOUNTIFUL |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BTF |
| Destination City | BOUNTIFUL |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 9 2014 12:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |