- Date
- September 8, 2021, 16:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Toughkenamon, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N51789Enstrom F28
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-hover: Loss of tail rotor effectiveness
- 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
- 20210908015469A
- Case key
- 103863
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 control of the helicopter during an out-of-ground effect hover in a gusty wind, due to loss of tail rotor effectiveness.
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 pilot performed a straight in approach to runway 24 and then entered an out-of-ground-effect hover at 30 to 40 ft above ground level. He made a right turn to hover taxi to the fueling area. At that time, he noticed that the rotor rpm was low, and he attempted to increase it; however, the helicopter spun right, descended and impacted a grass area near a taxiway. The recorded wind at the airport about the time of the accident was variable at 4 knots, gusting to 10 knots. The pilot reported 10 to 12 knot gusts from the east at the time of the accident and previous and subsequent weather recordings indicated wind gusts from the south. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the lower right fuselage. The examination did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions, nor did the pilot report any. It is likely that the helicopter was in an out-of-ground effect hover with a direct or quartering tailwind, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51789
- Reported as
- Enstrom F28 (C)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 454-2
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 3,802
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 21, 2021
- Airport
- N57 · New Garden Airport, runway 24, 3,693 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- April 25, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 525 total · 348 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 2979.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MQS, 10 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 28, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 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.
Other investigations on N51789 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.