Robinson R44 N441MG

Summary

On 27 June 2004 at about 09:30 local time, a Robinson R44 registered N441MG was involved in an accident near Barnesville, Georgia, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 June 2004 at 09:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Barnesville, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

33.0122, -84.2153

Aircraft

Robinson R44

Registration

N441MG

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Greer → Apalachicola

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ATL04FA141

3 people died.

The certified flight instructor's in-flight decision to continue VFR flight into IMC, which resulted in spatial disorientation, and the subsequent in a loss of control. A factor was fog.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the mechanic of MG Aviation the purpose of the cross-country flight was to take the private pilot's wife to visit her grandmother in a hospital in Florida. The private pilot called his flight instructor to assist him on the cross-country flight. The mechanic stated that the flight instructor came to his residence to pick up his flight bag at 0200 shortly after returning from a concert. The mechanic asked if he needed any assistance in preparing for the flight to Florida, and the flight instructor replied that the private pilot prepared everything for the cross-country flight. That was the last conversation the mechanic had with the flight instructor. According to a witness a helicopter was heard flying over the residential area, and shortly afterward an explosion was heard. Witnesses searched the area, and a helicopter was located in the back of a residential home engulfed in flames. . Examination of the wreckage site revealed the helicopter rested approximately 25 yards behind a residential home. The wreckage path was approximately 35 feet in length on a northerly heading at the base of a tree. The tail boom section was broken, and buckled. The main rotor blades were buckled and separated from the main rotor mass. The tail rotor shaft was separated from the tail boom and lodge in a tree. The tail rotor gearbox was separated and the tail rotor blades were broken. First responders to the accident site reported dense fog conditions at the accident site. There was no record of the pilot receiving a weather briefing before the departure or while en route.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.