- Date
- October 19, 1999, 17:05 local (21:05 UTC)
- Place
- Ft. Lauderdale, FL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8364ZRobinson R-44
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991019030699A
- Case key
- 47608
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 PIC's improper use of cyclic control during landing which resulted in a main rotor strike of the terrain and the rotorcraft's tail boom.
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 pilot stated that as he transitioned from hover to landing during the sales demonstration flight, the helicopter bounced 1 to 2 inches after touchdown, and he mistakenly applied right cyclic. The main rotor struck the ground and severed the tail boom, yawing the rotorcraft 180 degrees and damaging the landing skids.
Factual narrative
On October 19, 1999, about 1705 eastern daylight time, a Robinson R-44, N8364Z, registered to Heliflight Leasing, Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 sales demonstration flight, sustained a main rotor strike and separation of the tail boom upon landing at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter received substantial damage and the CFI-rated pilot, a private pilot-rated student, and a passenger were not injured. The flight departed the same airport about 1 hour before the accident.
According to the pilot-in-command, as he set the helicopter down for final landing, the craft bounced 1 to 2 inches and at the top of the bounce, he mistakenly applied right cyclic. Despite his applying corrective controls, the main rotor collided with the ground and the tail boom. In rapid succession, the nose pivoted 180 degrees, the tail boom was severed, and the landing skids sustained ground collision damage. In subsequent telephone conversations with the NTSB, the pilot stated that there were no contributing factors such as surface winds, propeller or rotor wash, or helicopter control problems, and he would characterize the event as, "..just bad technique".
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8364Z
- Reported as
- Robinson R-44
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 426
- Airframe hours
- 391
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-F1B5, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Heliflight Leasing, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 22, 1999 · 91 hours before
- Departed
- FXE · Ft. Lauderdale, FL
- Airport
- FXE · Ft. Lauderdale Executive
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
- 39
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,978 total · 50 in this make and model · 200 in the last 90 days · 69 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 79 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FXE
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.