Piper PA-28-140 N6183J

Summary

On 5 September 2003 at about 20:35 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N6183J, operated by Somerset Air Service, was involved in an accident near Somerville, New Jersey, 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

5 September 2003 at 20:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Somerville, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Somerset Airport (SMQ)

Coordinates

40.6258, -74.6700

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N6183J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Somerset Air Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Readington → Somerville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC03LA195

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's delay in executing a go-around, which resulted in an encounter with wake turbulence from a helicopter. A factor in the accident was the wake turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot of the accident airplane, while he was on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, he heard a helicopter announce over the UNICOM frequency that he was "inbound...5 miles to the northeast." The pilot continued in the pattern, and when he was at an altitude of 100 feet on final approach, he obtained visual contact with the helicopter, which was descending towards the taxiway adjacent to runway 30, about 1/3 down the runway. The pilot then decided to initiate a go-around; however, the airplane had already "lost its lift," and only climbed to about 20-30 feet before it was blown "by the propwash of the helicopter" to the left of the runway. The right wing dropped, impacted the runway, and the airplane "cartwheeled," coming to rest on the grassy area between the runway and taxiway. A review of FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 90-23E, Wake Turbulence, revealed: "A hovering helicopter generates a downwash from its main rotor(s) similar to the "prop wash" of a conventional aircraft. However, in forward flight, this energy is transformed into a pair of strong, high-speed trailing vortices similar to wing-tip vortices of larger fixed-wing aircraft. Pilots should avoid helicopter vortices since helicopter forward flight airspeeds are often very low which generate exceptionally strong wake turbulence."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.