- Date
- January 29, 1983, 16:50 local (21:50 UTC)
- Place
- Tallahassee, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N5459GMBB Scorpion TOO
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830129003269A
- Case key
- 30763
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 helicopter collided with trees while on a local personal flight. According to witnesses the acft was flying low overthe trees. Several loud backfires were heard and the helicopter crashed in a wooded area. The acft descended almost vertically with the fuselage in a flat level attitude. The left carburetor was found separated at the floating flange and intake manifold. The spark plugs showed evidence of lean mixture and hot combustion associated with intake manifold leakage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5459G
- Reported as
- MBB Scorpion TOO (SCORPION T)
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 576-1476
- Airframe hours
- 78
- Engine
- Rotorway RW-133, 133 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charlie G. Messer
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 13, 1982 · 78 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 79 total · 78 in this make and model · 48 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TLH, 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.