Bell 47D N74120

Summary

On 23 March 2003 at about 17:15 local time, a Bell 47D registered N74120 was involved in an accident near Princetown, New York, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 March 2003 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Princetown, New York, United States

Coordinates

42.7764, -74.0364

Aircraft

Bell 47D

Registration

N74120

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Princetown → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC03LA069

1 person had minor injuries.

The student's failure to maintain control while executing a takeoff to a hover, and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action. A factor in the accident was the muddy ground.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instructor had the student conduct approximately 18 takeoff and landings. Each was executed to and from a hover, and the student had difficulty maintaining rotor RPM during the maneuvers. The helicopter then departed, and flew to a private heliport. The student completed an "approach to the ground," and the instructor asked him to practice hover taxiing, before terminating the flight. As the student started to apply collective, the instructor looked inside to check rotor RPM. When he looked back outside, the helicopter was in a nose high, right side low attitude. The instructor lowered the collective and applied full left cyclic, but the roll to the right continued. The main-rotor blades impacted the ground, and the helicopter came to rest. The instructor added that during all the flights and accident sequence, he did not experience any mechanical problems with the helicopter. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the rear of the right skid was in an area of mud.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.