- Date
- June 4, 1994, 09:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tulsa, OK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2831BBell 47H-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940604014999A
- Case key
- 19083
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 rotor RPM, his delayed landing flare, and the improper touchdown.
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
A helicopter private pilot landed hard during the sixth practice autorotation of the day. The landing flare was delayed and the main rotor RPM decayed to the point that during touchdown, the main rotor blades flexed down and impacted the tailboom.
Factual narrative
On June 4, 1994, at 0900 central daylight time, a Bell 47H-1 helicopter, N2831B, was substantially damaged while landing near Tulsa, Oklahoma. The private pilot and his pilot rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight.
The pilot told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that during the sixth practice autorotation being performed to an open field adjacent to the Downtown Airport, the rotor RPM decayed and the helicopter landed hard. The main rotor blades flexed down and chopped the tailboom.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2831B
- Reported as
- Bell 47H-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1361
- Airframe hours
- 6,923
- Engine
- Franklin 6V-350A, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Turner, Terry J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 23, 1993 · 68 hours before
- Destination
- 5F2
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 202 total · 106 in this make and model · 91 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.