# NTSB FTW97LA329: Fairchild Heli-Porter PC6/B2-H2, N354F, Gillette, WY, August 26, 1997

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report
- Date: August 26, 1997, 15:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place: Gillette, WY
- Coordinates: 44.460231, -105.700485 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=44.4602&lon=-105.7005&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report February 2, 1998
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB case key (mKey): 20329
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=FTW97LA329
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/20329/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW97LA329

## Probable cause

Failure by the pilot in command to follow procedures and retrim the stabilizer for landing.

## Sequence of events

In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf).

- Hard landing, landing - flare/touchdown
  - stabilator trim - not set, pilot in command
  - procedures/directives - not followed, pilot in command (cause)

## Analysis

On returning to land, following dropping a load of skydivers, the pilot failed to reset the stabilizer trim and ran out of elevator during the flare for landing.  A hard landing occurred and the left main landing gear collapsed causing substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage.

## Factual narrative

On August 26, 1997, at 1510 mountain daylight time, a Fairchild Heli Porter, N354F, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at Gillette, Wyoming.  The commercial pilot was not injured.  The flight was being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91 as a local area flight and no flight plan was filed.  Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.

According to the pilot, he had dropped a load of sky divers and on return to land he forgot to retrim the stabilizer during approach and ran out of elevator control during the flare for landing. The landing was hard and the left main landing gear collapsed.  The underside of the fuselage skin, ribs, and stringers sustained damage when the landing gear collapsed.

The flight was operating at the race track complex in Gillette.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N354F](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N354F), registered now, S/N 2010, built 1967 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: Fairchild Heli-Porter PC6/B2-H2
- Registry model: [Fairchild Heli-Porter PILATUS PC6/B2-H2](https://openairdocs.org/model/fairchild-heli-porter-pilatus-pc6-b2-h2) (registry code 3375012) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney PT6A series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-series) (registry code 52032, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 2010
- Airframe hours: 8662
- Engines: P&W PT-6/27 550 horsepower turbo prop
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Other work use, Part 91
- Registered owner: Tom Dolphin
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: 100 hour, August 22, 1997, 18 hours before
- Departed: GCC

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 42; commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 2,100 total, 80 in this make and model, 1,930 as pilot in command

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature: 90 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observed at: GCC, 4 nm away

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 19970826023959A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970826023959A), Aug 26, 1997: Exper PILATUS, Gillette, WY, Destroyed. Aircraft landed hard, left main gear collapsed.

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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