- Date
- October 6, 2010, 13:18 local (17:18 UTC)
- Place
- Titusville, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2074BSchweizer 269C-1
- Defining event
- Enroute: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 16, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20101006047929I
- Case key
- 77520
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
An inadvertent in-flight collision with a bird.
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
According to the pilot, he was maneuvering the helicopter about 1,000 feet above ground level when he noticed a large bird located to the right of his flight path. As the bird started to circle toward the helicopter, the pilot attempted to avoid it by making a sharp left turn. When the helicopter was in a steep left bank, the pilot felt a "thump" in the airframe and cyclic control. The cyclic became sluggish and less responsive than normal. The pilot initiated a controlled descent and landed the helicopter in the median of a highway. An examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the main rotor blades required replacement. The pilot reported that prior to the bird impacting the helicopter, there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he was flying at 1,000 feet when he noticed a large bird located to the right of his flight path. As the bird started to circle towards the helicopter, the pilot tried to avoid it by making a sharp left turn. When the helicopter was in a steep left bank, the pilot felt a "thump in the aircraft and cyclic control," and the cyclic became "sluggish and spongy." The pilot completed a controlled descent and landed the helicopter in the median of a highway. An examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the main rotor blades required replacement. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the helicopter prior to the in-flight collision.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2074B
- Reported as
- Schweizer 269C-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0338
- Airframe hours
- 1,916
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-G1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bristow Academy Inc
- Registered owner
- Bristow Academy Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 8, 2010
- Departed
- NONE · Titusville, FL
- Destination
- NONE · Titusville, 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
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 98 total · 98 in this make and model · 34 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 18 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- TIX, 6 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 7, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 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.