- Date
- April 5, 2022, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hawley, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N999FRRobinson Helicopter R22
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) operating: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220405004899A
- Case key
- 104888
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 pilot’s poor decision to exit the helicopter with the engine and main rotor still operating.
Findings · 1
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 pilot reported that he landed and exited the helicopter and stood just outside of the door. The helicopter “picked up, spun around,” and knocked the pilot onto the ground. The helicopter came to rest on its left side resulting in substantial damage. The helicopter manufacturer had issued a safety notice SN-17 in 1984. The notice stated in part that the pilot should never exit the helicopter with the engine running and rotors turning as “the collective can creep up, increasing both pitch and throttle, allowing the helicopter to lift off or roll out of control.” The pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N999FR
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R22
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 4792
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 2,084
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360j2a, 124 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wheatly Andy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 31, 2022
- Departed
- Hawley, TX
- Airport
- None
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Satellite tracking device
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 19, 2021
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 14,285 total · 12,177 in this make and model · 14,131 as pilot in command · 208 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 19 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.62 inHg
- Observed at
- KDYS, 11 nm away
- METAR
- KDYS 051556Z AUTO 23019G22KT 10SM CLR 25/06 A2962 RMK AO2 SLP998 T02470055
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 6, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.1 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.