20060314005899I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Bell UH-1H · St. James City, FL · March 14, 2006

Date
March 14, 2006 · 09:30 local
Place
St. James City, FL
Phase of flight
Level Off Touchdown
Operating rules
Agricultural (Part 137)
Operator
NDXG
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N850M
Reported as
Bell UH1H
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
20,000 total20 in this make and model20 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) Flight departed buckingham field at approximately 0900 hours. First flight of day to build time and practice landings on helipads. Flying pilot landed in tail low position on elevated helipad with skids overhanging pad. Aircraft rocked back bending the right skid. Flying pilot applied nose down cyclic. Main rotor contacted upper wire strike, creasing and tearing lower surface of blades. Aircraft was shutdown and tail rotor, tail skid, and tailcone were inspected by both pilots. Neither noticed main rotor damage. Aircraft was flown back to buckingham field where they noticed the damage at approximately 0945 hours.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) FLIGHT DEPARTED BUCKINGHAM FIELD AT APPROXIMATELY 0900 HOURS. FIRST FLIGHT OF DAY TO BUILD TIME AND PRACTICE LANDINGS ON HELIPADS. FLYING PILOT LANDED IN TAIL LOW POSITION ON ELEVATED HELIPAD WITH SKIDS OVERHANGING PAD. AIRCRAFT ROCKED BACK BENDING THE RIGHT SKID. FLYING PILOT APPLIED NOSE DOWN CYCLIC. MAIN ROTOR CONTACTED UPPER WIRE STRIKE, CREASING AND TEARING LOWER SURFACE OF BLADES. AIRCRAFT WAS SHUTDOWN AND TAIL ROTOR, TAIL SKID, AND TAILCONE WERE INSPECTED BY BOTH PILOTS. NEITHER NOTICED MAIN ROTOR DAMAGE. AIRCRAFT WAS FLOWN BACK TO BUCKINGHAM FIELD WHERE THEY NOTICED THE DAMAGE AT APPROXIMATELY 0945 HOURS.