- Date
- February 9, 2010, 16:33 local (Feb 10, 2010, 00:33 UTC)
- Place
- Everett, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N125ACLeza Lockwood Air Cam
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) operating: Prop/jet/rotor blast/suction
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20100209026999A
- Case key
- 75355
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 inadvertent encounter with the rotor downwash from a hovering heavy-lift helicopter.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot taxied the ultralight airplane west between two rows of hangars up to the boundary of the non-movement area before stopping to contact ground control. At this time an Army Chinook helicopter made an approach to runway 34R before entering a hover over the runway in front of the pilot at an altitude estimated to be from 75 to 100 feet above ground level. As the helicopter descended to about 20 to 30 feet above ground level, the rotor wash from the helicopter picked the airplane up off the ground and blew it backwards and to the right. The airplane subsequently dropped to the ground on its right wingtip, coming to rest upright about 25 to 30 feet from where it was originally positioned. The airplane sustained damage to its right wing, including the flap and aileron, and the right main landing gear.
Factual narrative
The pilot taxied the ultralight airplane west between two rows of hangars up to the boundary of the non-movement area before stopping to contact ground control. At this time an Army Chinook helicopter made an approach to runway 34R before entering a hover over the runway in front of the pilot at an altitude estimated to be from 75 to 100 feet above ground level. As the helicopter descended to about 20 to 30 feet above ground level, the rotor wash from the helicopter picked the airplane up off the ground and blew it backwards and to the right. The airplane subsequently dropped to the ground on its right wingtip, coming to rest upright about 25 to 30 feet from where it was originally positioned.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N125AC
- Reported as
- Leza Lockwood Air Cam
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 019
- Airframe hours
- 532
- Engines
- Rotax 912 S, 100 horsepower, reciprocatingRotax 912 S, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gerhardt C Soeffker
- Registered owner
- Robert J Earle
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 10, 2007 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- PAE · Everett, WA
- Destination
- PAE · Everett, WA
- Airport
- PAE · Paine Field, runway 34R, 3,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 4, 2009
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,072 total · 88 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 111 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- PAE
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 3, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 714 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.