- Date
- November 8, 2020, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Raleigh, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N123NCBell 206
- Defining event
- Approach: Settling with power/vortex ring state
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201108014929A
- Case key
- 102253
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 loss of helicopter control after entry into vortex ring state, which resulted in main rotor blade contact with the tailboom, and impact with the ground.
Findings · 2
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
After flying for about 1.5 hours on a training flight, the pilot of the helicopter returned to the operator’s hangar and aborted two approaches after encountering vortex ring state. He decided to land at a nearby facility to have the occupant disembark to reduce the gross weight of the helicopter, and to improve the power available margin. He departed and attempted a third approach to the hangar. At about 300 ft agl, the helicopter again encountered vortex ring state; however, there was not enough altitude to successfully complete the same recovery maneuver. The helicopter began losing altitude rapidly and while descending it impacted the tops of several trees. A main rotor blade then contacted the tail rotor drive shaft, which immediately resulted in a surge of the engine, followed by a yaw of the helicopter to the right. The pilot then conducted an autorotative landing into the middle of a nearby road. The helicopter’s tailboom, main rotor, and fuselage were substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N123NC
- Reported as
- Bell 206 (A)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 610
- Built
- 1971
- Airframe hours
- 11,447.5
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- North Carolina State Highway Patrol
- Registered owner
- North Carolina State Highway Patrol
- Airworthiness certificate
- None
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 18, 2020
- Departed
- JNX · Smithfield, NC
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 3NC2 · Garner Road Heliport
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS, Onboard weather
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
- 32
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 27, 2020
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,878 total · 101 in this make and model · 1,587 as pilot in command · 104 in the last 90 days · 49 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.33 inHg
- Observed at
- KRDU, 12 nm away
- METAR
- KRDU 081851Z 13008KT 10SM BKN040 BKN250 25/16 A3033 RMK AO2 SLP268 T02500161
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 24, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 13.8 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.