- Date
- April 9, 2024, 08:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- South Kingstown, RI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N331ELRobinson Helicopter R44 II
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- 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
- 20240409004319A
- Case key
- 194061
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 clearance from the water while maneuvering at low altitude.
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 practicing various flight profiles over a pond in his helicopter. After completing the first profile, he began a profile that included a normal takeoff, a 10-ft hover, an acceleration to 40 kts, a climb to 50 ft above ground level, then a return to a 10-ft hover. On the pilot’s second attempt at this maneuver, when decelerating and descending back down to a 10 ft hover, the helicopter descended too low. The front skids caught the water and the helicopter descended into the pond, substantially damaging the tail rotor assembly and the main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. He also described that the weather and water conditions at the time of the accident were “calm and clear with no wind ripples on the water surface,” and that this produced a “mirroring effect” that hindered his depth perception.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N331EL
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R44 II
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 14667
- Built
- 2023
- Airframe hours
- 50
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5, 245 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- OQU · North Kingstown, RI
- Equipment
- Video recording device, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 10, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 12,050 total · 7,550 in this make and model · 11,850 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- WST, 12 nm away
- METAR
- KWST 091253Z AUTO 34004KT 10SM CLR 16/M01 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP167 T01611011
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 29, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.9 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.