# NTSB WPR10LA354: Robinson Helicopter R44 II, N944DW, Salt Lake City, UT, July 16, 2010 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 16, 2010, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC) - Place: Salt Lake City, UT - Coordinates: 40.788333, -111.977775 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.7883&lon=-111.9778&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Other](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/800) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Other: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal, 3 serious; on the ground: 1 fatal, 1 serious - Status: Completed, report January 7, 2011 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Western Pacific Region - Parties: Salt Lake City FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 76660 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR10LA354 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/76660/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=76660 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR10LA354 ## Probable cause The pilot's loss of directional control while attempting to move the helicopter laterally without first lifting it fully off its landing platform. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Action: incorrect action performance](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Robinson Helicopter R44 II, 12 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015/cases.md?model=7640122), [All aircraft, 1,386 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015/cases.md) - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Robinson Helicopter R44 II, 99 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=7640122), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Other: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) (defining event); cases with it: [Robinson Helicopter R44 II, 11 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md?model=7640122), [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md) - [Other: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Robinson Helicopter R44 II, 95 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=7640122), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot had just landed the helicopter on a flatbed trailer when it was determined that it needed to be moved laterally in order for its skids to be correctly attached to the trailer. Therefore the pilot applied enough collective to make the helicopter "light on the skids," and then he applied cyclic input meant to slide the helicopter laterally. When the helicopter did not slide sideways as the pilot desired, he continued to apply left cyclic input, whereupon the helicopter suddenly began to move in a manner that resulted in it starting to fall off the trailer. During the pilot's attempt to regain directional control by lifting the helicopter clear of the trailer, its main rotor blades came in contact with the truck that the trailer was attached to. Once the blades contacted the truck, the helicopter rotated about 180 degrees and impacted the tarmac beside the trailer. Soon after it impacted the tarmac, a fast-growing fire began. During the accident sequence, an individual who was helping with the loading process was struck by a main rotor blade. ## Factual narrative On July 16, 2010, about 1530 mountain daylight time, a Robinson R-44 II helicopter, N944DW, impacted the asphalt parking ramp between a row of hangars at Salt Lake City International Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah. The commercial pilot and his passenger received serious injuries, one person on the ground received serious injuries, and one person on the ground was killed during the accident sequence. The helicopter, which was owned by Veracity Leasing LLC, and operated by Pathfinder Helicopters, sustained substantial damage. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 repositioning flight took place in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. According to the operator, the pilot planned to take off from the asphalt ramp and land on a flatbed trailer that was connected to a pickup truck located a few feet away. Then, once strapped down, the helicopter was to be taken by trailer to a distant location. According to the pilot, at the beginning of this process, he and one of the individuals that was helping with the loading sequence, wheeled the helicopter out of the hangar, and then once the helicopter was fully clear of the hangar, they removed the ground-movement wheels from the helicopter's skids. The pilot then had the individual who had helped him roll the helicopter out of the hangar get into the left front seat of the helicopter, in order to equalize the lateral load while he was landing on the trailer. The pilot then picked the helicopter off the ground and hovered over to the location of the trailer. He then successfully landed on the trailer, lowered the collective, and rolled the throttle to ground idle. At that time another individual who was helping with the loading process approached the trailer to take a look at the positional relationship between the helicopter's skids and the skid locks on the trailer. It was then determined that the helicopter might have been too far to the right to get the skid locks to fasten on the skids. Therefore the person who had approached the trailer tried to fasten the skid locks down, but was unable to get them to fully close. After talking to the individual on the ground, the pilot decided to, "… raise the collective to get light on the skids and slide a couple of inches over to the left." He therefore brought the throttle to flight idle, and raised the collective, "to get light on the skids." According to the pilot, during this process he, "…did not lift off the trailer." He then used cyclic inputs to try to get the helicopter to move to the left, but initially he was unable to get it to move. He therefore continued trying to get the helicopter to slide to the left, and eventually, "… it just gave way." At that point, the nose of the helicopter went left, and the aft part of the right skid went off the trailer, and the helicopter, "… started to fall off the trailer backwards." In an effort to lift the helicopter clear of the trailer and regain directional control, the pilotimmediately applied up collective and forward cyclic. These actions resulted in the helicopter lifting off the trailer, but because of the forward positioning of the cyclic control, the main rotor blades tilted forward and impacted the cab of the pickup truck. Once the rotor blades made contact with the truck, the helicopter spun around about 180 degrees and impacted the tarmac beside the trailer. During that sequence, a main rotor blade hit the individual standing next to the trailer, the right seat passenger was ejected from the helicopter, and one other person on the ground was injured seriously. After the helicopter impacted the tarmac, because the engine was still running and the rotors were still turning, the pilot disengaged the rotor clutch, turned the master switch off, and turned the keys to the OFF position. Just as the pilot was turning the key to the OFF position, a rapidly growing fire started on the outside of the helicopter. The pilot then unhooked his seat belt and crawled out of the helicopter through the broken front windscreen. The pilot then helped the ejected passenger, who was kneeling on the left rear portion of the trailer, to get away from the accident scene. The pilot and another person then pulled the individual who had been hit by the rotor blade away from the wreckage and fire. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directed/monitored post-accident inspection of the helicopter wreckage did not reveal any evidence of an engine or flight control malfunction or anomaly, and the operator of the helicopter indicated on the NTSB Form 6120.1 that there had not been any mechanical malfunction or failure. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N944DW](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N944DW-2012-08-27), registration cancelled 2012-08-27, S/N 10439, built 2004 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY R44 II - Registry model: [Robinson Helicopter R44 II](https://openairdocs.org/model/robinson-helicopter-r44-ii) (registry code 7640122) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming IO-540 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-series) (registry code 41530, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Helicopter - Serial number: 10439 - Airframe hours: 2195 - Engines: LYCOMING IO-540 SER 245 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Positioning, Part 91 - Operator: Pathfinder Helicopters - Registered owner: Veracity Leasing LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, July 6, 2010 - Departed: KSLC, Salt Lake City, UT - Destination: KSLC, Salt Lake City, UT - Airport: KSLC, Salt Lake City Int. ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 30; injuries: serious; commercial, flight instructor; instrument ratings: helicopter; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; last flight review May 9, 2009; seat: right; flight hours: 1,663 total, 92 in this make and model, 1,570 as pilot in command, 2 in the last 90 days, 1 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 25,000 ft - Temperature: 99 °F - Altimeter: 30.06 inHg ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20100716038919A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20100716038919A), Jul 16, 2010: Robinson He R44 II, Salt Lake City, UT, Destroyed, 1 fatal. Pilot had landed on a trailer, didn't like the position and determined he would reposition. As he began the repositioning he indicated that the nose rose and… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 22, 2010, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=76660. 1.2 MB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 1.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40334342&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.