Eurocopter EC120B N171AE
21 December 2006 · Grand Prairie, Texas, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 21 December 2006 at about 21:10 local time, a Eurocopter EC120B registered N171AE, operated by American Eurocopter, was involved in an accident near Grand Prairie, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 21:10
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Grand Prairie, Texas, United States
- Nearest airport
- Grand Prairie Municipal (KGPM)
- Coordinates
- 32.6986, -97.0469
- Aircraft
- Eurocopter EC120B
- Registration
- N171AE
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- American Eurocopter
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Grand Prairie → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- DFW07LA043
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
The flight instructor's inadequate remedial action which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the practice autorotation.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
While performing a practice 180-degree autorotation, the 5,943-hour flight instructor observed that the student would not make the landing area. The flight instructor took over the helicopter controls and elected to land in the grass near the runway. The helicopter touched-down hard with low rotor energy and at a higher than normal touchdown speed. The helicopter proceeded to skid on the soft grass before digging in and rolling forward on its nose. The rotor blades subsequently impacted the ground before the helicopter rolled and came to rest on its right side. The pilot did not report any abnormalities with the helicopter's flight controls. The winds at the time of the mishap were reported from 260-degrees at 6 knots. The practice area used for the practice autorotations was aligned on a heading of 170-degrees.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Eurocopter EC120B accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 May 2006 | Eurocopter EC120B | Intracoastal, Louisiana, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 7 Mar 2007 | Eurocopter EC120B | Vreden, Germany | Souther Aircraft Consultancy Inc., Trustee | Minor injuries | - |
| 15 Oct 2009 | Eurocopter EC120B | San José de Ocoa, Dominican Republic | Helitech S.A. | Fatal | 3 |
| 26 Jun 2003 | Eurocopter EC120B | Boonville, Missouri, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 8 Jul 2003 | Eurocopter EC120B | Ship Shoal 80, United States | Texair Helicopters Inc | No injuries | - |
| 4 Oct 2011 | Eurocopter EC120B | McAllen, Texas, United States | Department of Homeland Security | Minor injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Jun 2006 | Campbell W/Smiley J EXECYTIVE 162F | Porter, Texas, United States | Clint Alexander | Minor injuries | - |
| 19 Dec 2006 | Cessna T210N | Austin, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 21 Oct 2006 | Taylor ZODIAC 601 | San Antonio, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 22 Apr 2006 | Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-2C | Midlothian, Texas, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 19 Jul 2006 | Cessna P210N | Amarillo, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 21 Oct 2006 | Piper PA-38-112 | Wimberley, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |