- Date
- May 9, 2010, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sarasota, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N116SHiller UH12
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100509033889A
- Case key
- 75989
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 delayed remedial action to maintain main rotor rpm, which resulted in a loss of lift and hard landing.
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/owner of the helicopter stated that while in cruise flight, he let his rotor rpm decay due to inattention and "complacency." He decided he could not recover the rotor rpm "quickly enough" and performed an autorotation to a pasture. The pilot leveled the helicopter about 8 feet above the ground where it "lost lift [and] dropped straight down." At ground contact, the main rotor blades contacted the tail boom, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter.
Factual narrative
The pilot/owner of the helicopter stated that while in cruise flight, he let his rotor rpm decay due to inattention and "complacency." He decided he could not recover the rotor rpm "quickly enough" and performed an autorotation to a pasture. The pilot leveled the helicopter about 8 feet above the ground where it "lost lift [and] dropped straight down." At ground contact, the main rotor blades contacted the tail boom, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N116S
- Reported as
- Hiller UH12 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 278
- Airframe hours
- 1,031.1
- Engine
- Franklin 6V335B, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Helicopter Service by Randy, LLC
- Registered owner
- Helicopter Service by Randy, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 11, 2009
- Departed
- FA22 · Sarasota, FL
- Destination
- FA22 · Sarasota, FL
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
- 61
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 27, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 758 total · 748 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- SRQ, 12 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 20, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 343 KB 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.
Other investigations on N116S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.