- Date
- November 18, 2023, 14:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ogdensburg, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N789GRRobinson Helicopter R44 II
- Defining event
- Taxi: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20231118020099A
- Case key
- 193401
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 loss of control of the helicopter during taxi, which resulted in 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 pilot of the helicopter was practicing some maneuvers in the vicinity of his local airport. Upon completion of these maneuvers, while taxiing towards his hangar, the pilot reported that the helicopter began to yaw to the right. The pilot described that he was about a 1 ft above and that once one of the helicopter’s skids contacted the ground, he was unable to regain control and the helicopter rolled over. The helicopter’s fuselage, main rotor blades, and tailboom were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation, nor were any discovered during a postaccident examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N789GR
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R44 II
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 10982
- Airframe hours
- 1,141
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2023 · 103 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- OGS · Ogdensburg International Airport
- 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 22, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,300 total · 1,300 in this make and model · 800 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Turbulence
- Light
- Observed at
- OGS
- METAR
- METAR KOGS 181835Z AUTO VRB04G13KT 10SM CLR 04/M06 A2986 RMK AO2=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 19, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 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.