- Date
- April 25, 2006, 16:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Brook, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N7197KRobinson R22 Beta
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- South Bend
- FAA report
- 20060425026999A
- Case key
- 63755
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 intentional decision to leave the helicopter unattended with the engines running which resulted in a dynamic rollover. The inadvertent dynamic rollover was a factor.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
In a telephone interview, the pilot reported that he had flown the helicopter to Brook, Indiana, in order to perform cleanup following a previous truck spill. He stated that he completed the cleanup and had taken the material and placed them in garbage bags and then placed the garbage bags in the helicopter. He said that he had started the helicopter and had either just lifted off, or was preparing to lift off when he saw one of his waste hauling trucks. He stated that he decided to have the truck transport the cleanup materials and he removed them from the helicopter and gave them to the truck driver. He said that as he was returning to the helicopter, he could hear the "RPM's" increasing. He decided that it would not be safe to approach the helicopter and decided to stay at a safe distance. He said that about 15 seconds later, the helicopter pivoted on it's right landing skid and rolled on it's side. He stated that when he left the helicopter, he had lowered the collective, and applied the friction locks.
Factual narrative
On April 25, 2006, about 1630 central daylight time, a Robinson R22 Beta helicopter, N7197K, sustained substantial damage when it rolled onto it's right side near Brook, Indiana. The helicopter was operated by a private pilot. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. There were no injuries.
In a telephone interview, the pilot reported that he had flown the helicopter to Brook, Indiana, in order to perform cleanup following a previous truck spill. He stated that he completed the cleanup and had taken the material and placed them in garbage bags and then placed the garbage bags in the helicopter. He said that he had started the helicopter and had either just lifted off, or was preparing to lift off when he saw one of his waste hauling trucks. He stated that he decided to have the truck transport the cleanup materials and he removed them from the helicopter and gave them to the truck driver. He said that as he was returning to the helicopter, he could hear the "RPM's" increasing. He decided that it would not be safe to approach the helicopter and decided to stay at a safe distance. He said that about 15 seconds later, the helicopter pivoted on it's right landing skid and rolled on it's side. He stated that when he left the helicopter, he had lowered the collective, and applied the friction locks.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7197K
- Reported as
- Robinson R22 Beta
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3178
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 131 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Brook, IN
- Destination
- C56 · Monee, IL
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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.