- Date
- February 19, 2017, 09:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Spofford, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N804DFRobinson Helicopter R44
- Defining event
- Taxi-to runway: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170219001049A
- Case key
- 94800
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 decision to hover-taxi out of the hangar and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance from the hangar.
Findings · 4
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 of the skid-equipped helicopter reported that, the night before the accident flight, he hover-taxied into a hangar because convective activity was approaching the airport and he did not have ground-handling equipment (wheels) to move the helicopter. The following morning, he attempted to hover-taxi out of the hangar for a positioning flight, but the main rotor blade struck the top of the hangar door when the helicopter was about three-quarters of the way out of the hangar. Subsequently, the helicopter spun and rolled over onto its left side. The main rotor and tailboom sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a skid-equipped helicopter reported that the night before the accident flight, he hover-taxied into a hangar because convective activity was approaching the airport and he did not have ground-handling equipment (wheels) to move the helicopter. The following morning, he attempted to hover-taxi out of the hangar for a positioning flight, but the main rotor blade struck the top of the hangar door when the helicopter was about ¾ of the way out of the hangar. Subsequently, the helicopter spun and rolled over onto its left side. The main rotor and tail boom sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N804DF
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R44 (II)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 11265
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 1,953
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5, 245 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 18, 2016
- Departed
- 55XS · Spofford, TX
- Destination
- HDO · Hondo, TX
- Airport
- 55XS · Frontier
- Equipment
- None
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
- 63
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 29, 2016
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 6,905 total · 1,905 in this make and model · 6,815 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- KDRT, 29 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 3, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.6 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.
Other investigations on N804DF · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.