- Date
- March 24, 1999, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Zephyrhills, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N4412CFairchild Hiller FH-1100
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990324002639A
- Case key
- 45952
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 student pilot's improper use of flight controls (cyclic and collective) during a takeoff to a hover. This resulted in the helicopter encountering dynamic rollover and rolling over on its right side.
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 student pilot was going to wash his helicopter in his back yard. He realized the garden hose was about 6 feet short. He decided to move the helicopter about 10 to 15 feet to the right. He started the helicopter and completed a flight control check which was uneventful. He increased collective, cyclic, applied left antitorque pedal, and started to pick up the helicopter. Before he knew it the helicopter entered dynamic rollover and rolled over on its right side.
Factual narrative
On March 24, 1999, at about 1100 eastern standard time, a Fairchild Hiller FH-1100, N4412C, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 repositioning flight, rolled over on its right side while attempting to pick up to a hover. Visual meteorological procedures prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injury. The flight was originating from his back yard at the time of the accident.
The student pilot stated he was going to wash the helicopter in his back yard. He realized the garden hose was about 6 feet short of the right side of the helicopter. He decided to move the helicopter to the right about 10 to 15 feet. He started the helicopter and did a flight control check which was uneventful. He increased collective, cyclic, applied left antitorque pedal, and started to pick up the helicopter. Before he knew it, the helicopter rolled over on its right side.
Examination of the engine and flight control assembly revealed no evidence of a precrash mechanical failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4412C
- Reported as
- Fairchild Hiller FH-1100
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 187
- Airframe hours
- 4,000
- Engine
- Allison C-18-440331, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jefferson O. Roach
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- N/A
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
- 72
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 40 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TPA, 28 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.