- Date
- April 25, 1998, 08:20 local (12:20 UTC)
- Place
- Lakeland, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N202TROrlando Heli Air TR-2000
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980425007669A
- Case key
- 38507
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 failure to obtain the proper touch down point (landed left of runway) on landing.
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 landed to the left of the designated runway, collided with a raised portion of a taxiway, became airborne, and collided with the ground hard in a nose down right wing low attitude. The right main landing gear separated, and the airplane rotated around the vertical axis to the left. The left wing tip collided with the ground and the airplane nosed down coming to rest on its nose.
Factual narrative
On April 25, 1998, about 0820 eastern daylight time, an Orlando Heli Air Inc., TR-2000, experimental airplane, registered to Orlando Heli Air Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 photo flight, crashed on landing at the Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport, Lakeland, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot reported minor injuries. The flight originated from Lakeland-Linder Airport, about 1 hour before the accident.
The pilot stated he made a landing to the sod runway. On landing rollout the airplane crossed a taxiway, became airborne, and collided with the ground hard in a nose down, right wing low attitude. The right main landing gear separated and the airplane rotated around the vertical axis to the left. The left wing tip collided with the ground and the airplane nosed down, coming to rest on its nose, separating the propeller assembly. The pilot did not realize he landed left of the runway until after the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N202TR
- Reported as
- Orlando Heli Air TR-2000
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 75
- Engine
- Thruct In TR-200, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Layman F Rodgers Jr.
- Registered owner
- Orlando Heli Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 21, 1997 · 75 hours before
- Departed
- LAL
- Airport
- LAL · Lakeland-Linder Regional, runway 9, 3,000 × 150 ft, grass/turf
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
- 68
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 75 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.