- Date
- October 5, 1997, 12:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bennington, VT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N49983Hiller UH-12C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971005047449A
- Case key
- 39483
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 failure of the cyclic control due to an improper modification by the pilot/owner.
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 certificated flight instructor (CFI)/owner had been demonstrating how to hover a helicopter to a student pilot. When the student pilot attempted to hover the helicopter, it began to roll right. The CFI then took hold of his controls, and the top of his cyclic stick detached. The helicopter then rolled right and collided with the ground. Examination revealed that the cyclic stick had been replaced with a military style cyclic. The owner reported that the cyclic had been cut down by removing a section of the cyclic, and the cyclic detached at the repaired joint. A review of the maintenance records did not reveal who or when the modification was performed.
Factual narrative
On October 5, 1997, about 1230 eastern daylight time, a Hiller UH-12C, N49983, was substantially damaged when it rolled over while hovering at the William H. Morse State Airport (5B5), Bennington, Vermont. The certificated flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local instructional flight that originated at 5B5, about 1210. No flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the certificated flight instructor (CFI)/owner stated that they had been hovering over a grass area, when the loss of control occurred and the helicopter rolled right onto it's side.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector, the CFI had been demonstrating how to hover a helicopter to a student pilot. While the student pilot was attempting to hover the helicopter, it began to roll right. When the CFI took hold of his controls, the top of his cyclic stick detached. The helicopter then rolled right and collided with the ground.
Examination of the helicopter by the FAA Inspector revealed the helicopter's cyclic stick had been replaced with a military style cyclic. According to the FAA Inspector, the owner reported that the cyclic had been cut down by removing a section of the cyclic. The top of the cyclic detached at the repaired joint. A review of the maintenance records did not reveal who or when the modification was performed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N49983
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 850
- Airframe hours
- 5,100
- Engine
- Franklin 6V335-5D, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David A. Dinicola
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 26, 1997 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- 5B5
- Airport
- 5B5 · William H. Morse State
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 471 total · 363 in this make and model · 471 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ALB, 29 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.
Other investigations on N49983 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.