- Date
- March 9, 2021, 15:39 local (21:39 UTC)
- Place
- Duson, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N49XBRobinson Helicopter R66
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20210309004579A
- Case key
- 102745
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The uncertified pilot’s failure to maintain control of the helicopter when encountering a wind gust while hovering to land.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The uncertificated pilot reported that he was hovering to land on a concrete driveway near his hangar when he encountered a wind gust. The pilot subsequently lost control of the helicopter and it nosed over and struck the driveway. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor system and the tail rotor. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported he’d flown the helicopter from a maintenance facility to his hangar without the supervision of a flight instructor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N49XB
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R66
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0671
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 954
- Engine
- Rolls-Royc 250-C300/A1, 300 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Trinity Paul Air LLC
- Registered owner
- Trinity Paul Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 8, 2021 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- KREG · Gonzales, LA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- N/A · Private
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 97 total · 97 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 8 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- KLFT, 9 nm away
- METAR
- KLFT 092153Z 18008G18KT 10SM SCT060 23/09 A3031 RMK AO2 SLP264 T02280094
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 20, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.