Tatkovsky James G SAFARI N330JT

Summary

On 27 September 2016 at about 19:54 local time, a Tatkovsky James G SAFARI registered N330JT was involved in an accident near Andover, New Hampshire, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 September 2016 at 19:54

Classification

Accident

Location

Andover, New Hampshire, United States

Coordinates

43.4208, -71.7806

Aircraft

Tatkovsky James G SAFARI

Registration

N330JT

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2004

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Andover → Andover

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA330

1 person was seriously injured.

The noncertificated pilot’s failure to maintain helicopter control during initial climb.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The noncertificated pilot was flying the helicopter on a local, personal flight. He reported that, during takeoff and while flying between 25 and 30 mph, the helicopter began an uncommanded climb that he could not control with forward cyclic control input. He added that the helicopter then "came to a complete stop." The helicopter yawed right, its nose dropped, and then the tailboom swung left and descended into trees. The airplane came to rest on its side at the base of a tree. The pilot reported no issues with the cyclic or collective flight controls from the cockpit to the main rotor. Postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed extensive fire damage; however, there was no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The failure of a flight control system spring or cable could cause unexpected movement of the collective, but the helicopter's collective system was equipped with two springs and two cables for redundancy. None of these components had failed. Although the springs exhibited evidence of relaxing, it was likely due to the postcrash fire.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.