- Date
- December 22, 2014, 08:40 local (13:40 UTC)
- Place
- Henniker, NH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N64HFRobinson Helicopter R66
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 7, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20141222021639A
- Case key
- 90520
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 failure to maintain aircraft control while landing, which resulted in a collision with a snow bank. Contributing to the accident was ice that covered the landing surface.
Findings · 3
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 was landing the helicopter at a private heliport. The outside air temperature was about -1 degree Celsius (C). After a normal touchdown, the helicopter began to spin and the tail rotor struck a snow bank, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail rotor and lower vertical stabilizer. After exiting the helicopter, the pilot noted that the ground was coated with "black ice." The pilot reported that he did not experience any malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. He further reported about 635 hours of rotorcraft flight experience, which included 85 hours in the same make and model as the accident helicopter.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing the helicopter at a private heliport. The outside air temperature was about -1 degree Celsius (C). After a normal touchdown, the helicopter began to spin and the tail rotor struck a snow bank, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail rotor and lower vertical stabilizer. After exiting the helicopter, the pilot noted that the ground was coated with "black ice." The pilot reported that he did not experience any malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. He further reported about 635 hours of rotorcraft flight experience, which included 85 hours in the same make and model as the accident helicopter.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64HF
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R66
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0268
- Built
- 2013
- Airframe hours
- 79
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C300/A1, 285 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hillsboro Ford Inc
- Registered owner
- Hillsboro Ford Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2014
- Departed
- LCI · Laconia, NH
- Destination
- Henniker, NH
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 27, 2013
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 634 total · 85 in this make and model · 634 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.36 inHg
- Observed at
- LCI, 26 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 2, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.9 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.