- Date
- April 8, 1999, 15:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Myers, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N31788Frederick Sweet Rotorway Exec
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990408003389A
- Case key
- 46101
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-in-command's failure to maintain aircraft control after the ground tie chain separated during engine run and hovering operations.
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 he was running the aircraft's engine and hovering the helicopter while it was tied to the ground by a chain. The chain broke and he lost control of the helicopter. The helicopter rolled to the side and the main rotor collided with a tree.
Factual narrative
On April 8, 1999, about 1515 eastern daylight time, a Frederick Sweet Rotorway Exec, N31788, registered to an individual, collided with a tree while hovering at Fort Myers, Florida, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter received substantial damage and the private-rated pilot was not injured. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated he had chained the helicopter to the ground with a 2-foot-long chain. He only planned to hover the helicopter. He started the helicopter's engine and lifted the helicopter into a hover. The chain broke, the helicopter rolled to the side, and the main rotor contacted a palm tree. The helicopter then came to rest on its side.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N31788
- Reported as
- Frederick Sweet Rotorway Exec (ROTORWAY E)
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3855
- Engine
- Rotorway 152, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard F. Ennis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 69
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,615 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY, 5 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.