- Date
- September 23, 2019, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kershaw, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N849GFGeorge W. Felix Mosquito
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 17, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 100329
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 improper cyclic input during takeoff, which resulted in a loss of helicopter control, the skid impacting the ground, and a subsequent dynamic rollover.
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 student pilot reported that, shortly after takeoff from his private cement pad and about 2 ft above ground level, the helicopter "darted forward and left." He attempted to correct the drift, but the helicopter began "swinging back and forth," the left skid impacted the ground, and the helicopter then dynamically rolled over. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor blades and tailboom. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The student added that the he "did not have the cyclic in a neutral position when he lifted off" and that the accident flight was his first flight in the helicopter.
Factual narrative
The student pilot of a single seat helicopter reported that, shortly after takeoff from his private cement pad, and about 2 ft above the ground, the helicopter "darted forward and left." He attempted to correct the drift, but the helicopter began "swinging back and forth", the left skid impacted the ground, the helicopter dynamically rolled over, and impacted the terrain. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor blades and tailboom. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot added that the he "did not have the cyclic in a neutral position when he lifted off." The student pilot further reported that the accident flight was his first flight in the helicopter.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N849GF
- Reported as
- George W. Felix Mosquito (XE)
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- MXE1339J18B
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 0.8
- Engine
- Zanzottera MZ202, 60 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- Kershaw, SC
- Destination
- Kershaw, SC
- 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
- 70
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 46 total · 0 in this make and model · 40 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Observed at
- KCDN, 13 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 22, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB in all.