D & K BABY BELLE N211CJ

Summary

On 19 July 2017 at about 00:30 local time, a D & K BABY BELLE registered N211CJ was involved in an accident near Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. One person was 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

19 July 2017 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Spartanburg Downtown Memorial (SPA)

Coordinates

34.9158, -81.9564

Aircraft

D & K BABY BELLE

Registration

N211CJ

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Spartanburg → Spartanburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA256

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain helicopter control during the approach to landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot of the experimental, amateur-built helicopter reported that he returned to the airfield after a local flight and was preparing to land. While flying about 4 ft above ground level at an indicated airspeed between 16 and 24 mph, he felt a shudder, and the helicopter yawed to the right. He straightened the helicopter with antitorque pedal inputs and did not recall hearing any engine noise, although the doors were removed. The next thing that he recalled was lying on the ground, with the helicopter leaking fuel. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the helicopter's main rotor blades were bent and the tailboom was severed. Postaccident examination of the helicopter, which included an engine run, did not reveal any evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Although the pilot reported 46 total hours of helicopter flight experience, all in the make and model of the accident helicopter, he did not possess a rotorcraft rating at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.