- Date
- April 29, 2002, 18:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Alsatia, LA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N383MAEnstrom 280FX
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20020429011139A
- Case key
- 54628
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 main rotor contact to the tail boom resulting from the pilot leaving the helicopter unattended while the rotors were engaged.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot landed the helicopter in a corn field and disembarked from the helicopter while the rotors were still under power. Subsequently, he said that a "gust of wind" came and the main rotor severed the tail boom.
Factual narrative
On April 29, 2002, approximately 1830 central daylight time, an Enstrom 280FX Helicopter, N383MA, registered to and operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged when the main rotor blades struck the tail boom while standing with rotors idling in the vicinity of Alsatia, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight originated from Monroe, Louisiana, at 1730.
In an interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC), the pilot stated that he landed in a corn field and disembarked from the helicopter while the rotors were still under power. Subsequently, he said that a "gust of wind" came and the main rotor severed the tail boom.
After the interview, the NTSB investigator-in-charge requested that the pilot provide the NTSB with additional information. The pilot wrote a letter back and denied that this event was an accident, thus did not provide a NTSB Pilot/Operator Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2).
The NTSB IIC requested information from the helicopter's manufacturer to determine if the conditions that the pilot reported could have resulted in the main rotor to strike the tail boom. They were not aware of an occurrence where a gust of wind resulted in the main rotor blades to make contact and sever the tail boom.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N383MA
- Reported as
- Enstrom 280FX
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2048
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-F1AD, 225 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Turner C. Brown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MLU · Monroe, LA
- Destination
- Alsatia
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
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 5 knots, gusting 12
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 10, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 395 KB 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 N383MA · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.