- Date
- April 8, 1994, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hebron, NE
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N100LUSchweizer 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940408000039A
- Case key
- 9503
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 failure of the student pilot to maintain adequate clearance from obstructions during aerial taxi.
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
The student pilot was repositioning the helicopter for takeoff after refueling on a solo cross country training flight. The helicopter tail rotor contacted and became entangled in an airport windsock. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control. The main and tail rotor blades contacted the ground, the left skid collapsed, and the helicopter came to rest upright.
Factual narrative
On April 8, 1994, at 1730 hours central daylight time, a Schweizer 269C, N100LU, operated as a training helicopter by Silver Hawk Aviation of Lincoln, Nebraska, contacted a wind sock with its tail rotor at the Hebron Municipal Airport, Hebron, Nebraska. The helicopter was substantially damaged. The student solo pilot suffered minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident, winds were 20 knots gusting to 30 knots, and no flight plan was filed.
The flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91, had originated from Seward, Nebraska, and was departing Hebron on a return leg of a student solo cross country. The pilot was repositioning the helicopter for departure after refueling. While hovering backwards, the tail rotor became entangled in a windsock adjacent to the ramp, a loss of control occurred, and the main and tail rotor blades contacted the ground. The helicopter came to rest upright with one skid collapsed and the engine was secured by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N100LU
- Reported as
- Schweizer 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- S1546
- Airframe hours
- 390
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-E1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael Weatherl
- Registered owner
- Silver Hawk Security
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 1, 1993 · 96 hours before
- Destination
- SWT · Seward, NE
- Airport
- HJH · Hebron Municipal
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 39
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 250 total · 100 in this make and model · 75 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 20 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GRI, 50 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.