- Date
- November 18, 2020, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Austell, GA · Field
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N442JPRobinson R44
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-hover: Dynamic rollover
- 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
- 20201118022319A
- Case key
- 102310
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 flight instructor’s failure to maintain adequate clearance above the gravel surface in a hover, which resulted in a dynamic rollover.
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
The flight instructor and student pilot were practicing approaches off-airport in the helicopter, and the flight instructor was demonstrating a slope landing. The flight instructor described that while in the hover, the helicopter suddenly pitched up 10-20°, followed by a pitch down of a like amount. The main rotor subsequently impacted the ground and the helicopter rolled over onto its left side, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom, main rotor, and fuselage. The flight instructor reported that there no preaccident mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Photographs of the accident site showed that the surface the hover was being performed over was an open area of uneven gravel. In a statement to a law enforcement officer who responded to the accident, the flight instructor described that the helicopter’s skid had contacted the gravel and the helicopter then flipped over. Given this information, it is likely that during the hover, the helicopter inadvertently contacted the gravel surface, which initiated a dynamic rollover event from which the flight instructor could not recover.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N442JP
- Reported as
- Robinson R44 (II)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 11960
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 1,977.9
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5, 205 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Atlanta Helicopters
- Registered owner
- Atlanta Helicopters LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 17, 2020
- Departed
- PUJ · Atlanta, GA
- Destination
- PDK · Atlanta, GA
- Airport
- None
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 21,200 total · 250 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Right
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.51 inHg
- Observed at
- FTY, 15 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 24, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.