- Date
- July 25, 1994, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fredricksburg, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N845HScorpion 133
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940725019339A
- Case key
- 19121
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions. Factors were the gusty wind and the non-certificated pilot's inadequate training.
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 non-certificated pilot was practicing hovering his homebuilt helicopter. After 20 minutes of practice, there was a hard touchdown on the rear portion of the left skid. The skid collapsed and the tail rotor struck the ground. At that time the pilot turned and looked back toward the tail rotor and was struck in the face by a tail rotor blade. The pilot reported wind from the south at 15 miles per hour, gusting to 20. He also related that a gust of wind caught the helicopter while he was hovering about 18 inches above the ground.
Factual narrative
On July 25, 1994, approximately 1300 central daylight time, a Scorpion 133, N845H, was substantially damaged during hovering operations at Fredricksburg, Texas. The non-certificated pilot was the owner, builder, and operator. The pilot sustained serious injuries. Weather at the time of the accident was visual meteorological conditions.
Witnesses and family members reported that the pilot was practicing hover operations when he made contact with the ground. The first and second contact resulted in no damage; however, the third ground contact resulted in the left skid breaking and the tail rotor striking the ground. Following the skid failure the pilot looked outside and to the rear of the aircraft to see what damage had occurred, at that time he was struck in the face by a tail rotor blade. The strike resulted in the pilot sustaining serious injuries and a loss of consciousness.
The pilot reported wind from the south gusting to 20 miles per hour. He further stated in his enclosed report that while hovering about 18 inches off the ground a gust of wind caught the aircraft.
The 13 year old daughter of the pilot observed the event. When the skid collapsed the aircraft leaned over to the right, bringing the main rotor tip path close to the ground. The engine continued to run after the pilot lost consciousness. The daughter crawled under the main rotors and shut down the aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N845H
- Reported as
- Scorpion 133
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 8458
- Airframe hours
- 4
- Engine
- Rotorway RW133, 140 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Itri, Donald
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · July 25, 1994 · 36 hours before
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
- 48
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 50 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 13 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.