- Date
- May 1, 2002, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Blairstown, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N37731Bell 47J-2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20020501012289A
- Case key
- 54621
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 improper flare, and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance which resulted in a tail strike.
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
During the flare, the tail rotor blades struck a tire, which was used to mark off the helipad. The helicopter rotated to the right and began to climb. The pilot closed the throttle, and the helicopter touched down hard, coming to rest upright.
Factual narrative
On May 1, 2002, about 1430 eastern daylight time, a Bell 47J-2A helicopter, N37731, was substantially damaged while landing at the Blairstown Airport, Blairstown, New Jersey. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the sightseeing flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, just after the helicopter lifted off the ground, the passenger advised that a camera had fallen under a seat, and he could not reach it. The pilot elected to hover to a helipad located in grass area, just east of the runway. Four tires marked off the helipad, one at each corner. As the helicopter neared the ground, the pilot flared, and the tail rotor blades struck one of the tires. The helicopter rotated to the right and began to climb. The pilot closed the throttle, and the helicopter touched down hard on the helipad, coming to rest upright.
Examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the gearbox had separated from the tail boom, and the main landing skids were collapsed around both sides of the fuselage.
The recorded weather at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident, included winds from 290 degrees at 8 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N37731
- Reported as
- Bell 47J-2A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3702
- Airframe hours
- 3,605
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sparta Rotors
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 14, 2002 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- N53 · Strousburg, PA
- Destination
- 1N7 · Blairstown, NJ
- Airport
- 1N7 · Blairstown Airport
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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- June 18, 2001
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,900 total · 400 in this make and model · 4,000 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- ABE, 28 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 15, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 404 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.