- Date
- March 22, 2006, 15:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Morgan, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N520DKKearsley Exec 162F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20060322003789A
- Case key
- 63382
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 inadequate in-flight decision to attempt to hover out of ground effect above the kit manufacturers published recommendations. A factor was mountainous terrain.
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 said that he departed from his home, which is at approximately 5,000 feet elevation. He said that he came to a hover at approximately 10 feet above a ridge line to look at a herd of elk. He said he had an estimated 10 knot tail-wind, which reduced the helicopter's tail rotor effectiveness. The pilot said that the helicopter settled into some brush on the side of the ridge, and rolled onto its left side. The helicopter came to rest at an elevation of 7,000 feet. The maximum hover out of ground effect altitude, published by RotorWay International, for the Exec 162F, is 5,000 feet.
Factual narrative
On March 22, 2006, at approximately 1530 mountain standard time, a Kearsley, RotorWay Exec 162F, homebuilt experimental helicopter, N520DK, was substantially damaged when it settled to a ridge top and rolled onto its left side near Morgan, Utah. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot/builder was operating the helicopter under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local elk watching flight that originated from the pilot's home approximately 20 minutes before the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot said that he departed from his home, which is at approximately 5,000 feet elevation. He said that he came to a hover at approximately 10 feet above a ridge line to look at a herd of elk. He said he had an estimated 10 knot tail-wind, which reduced the helicopter's tail rotor effectiveness. The pilot said that the helicopter settled into some brush on the side of the ridge, and rolled onto its left side. The helicopter came to rest at an elevation of 7,000 feet.
The maximum hover out of ground effect altitude, published by RotorWay International for the Exec 162F, is 5,000 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N520DK
- Reported as
- Kearsley Exec 162F
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 6776
- Airframe hours
- 45
- Engine
- Rotorway RI 162F, 175 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Douglas I. Kearsley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- NONE · Morgan, UT
- Destination
- NONE
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 45 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- HIF, 15 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.