20020129002639I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Amtr Ultrasport · Newport News, VA · January 29, 2002

Date: January 29, 2002 · 11:00 local
Place: Newport News, VA
Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: NONE
Reported as: Amtr Ultrasport
Reported engine: HIRTH F30
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 2,800 total26 in this make and model7 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-23) Robert donnelly was conducting a maintenance test flight for a blade tracking maintenance function that required a flight to determine if the main rotor was within normal range during autoration. The autoration was initiated with the motor RPM in the normal range. The pilot was slow to bring the engine RPM up to match the rotor RPM, which resulted in a low rotor RPM and a hard landing.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) ROBERT DONNELLY WAS CONDUCTING A MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHT FOR A BLADE TRACKING MAINTENANCE FUNCTION THAT REQUIRED A FLIGHT TO DETERMINE IF THE MAIN ROTOR WAS WITHIN NORMAL RANGE DURING AUTORATION. THE AUTORATION WAS INITIATED WITH THE MOTOR RPM IN THE NORMAL RANGE. THE PILOT WAS SLOW TO BRING THE ENGINE RPM UP TO MATCH THE ROTOR RPM, WHICH RESULTED IN A LOW ROTOR RPM AND A HARD LANDING.