Robinson R44 II N74548

Summary

On 15 November 2006 at about 19:41 local time, a Robinson R44 II registered N74548 was involved in an accident near Baltimore, Maryland, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 November 2006 at 19:41

Classification

Accident

Location

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Coordinates

39.2411, -76.5172

Aircraft

Robinson R44 II

Registration

N74548

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fredericksburg → Baltimore

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

NYC07FA029

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain control while landing to a trailer, which resulted in a collision with terrain. A factor in the accident was the narrow trailer.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter approached the trailer, and landed "softly," with the nose canted slightly to the helicopter's right. The helicopter then lifted until it was "light on the skids," and drifted left until the left skid was suspended above the ground, off the left side of the trailer. The helicopter then settled onto the trailer and the left skid "fell' toward the ground. The pilot stated that at that point, one skid felt like it was "a pivot point, it felt like 'dynamic rollover'. I pulled too much collective, it got out of control, and I couldn't recover." The helicopter spun around the aft side of the trailer, and collided with the ground on the right side of the trailer. The pilot said that the flight to the port was uneventful, and that the performance of the helicopter was "good," with no problems noted. Comparisons between the width of the trailer, and the width of the landing gear skids revealed that a landing centered on the trailer left only 9 inches of platform on the outside of each skid. The pilot had accrued about 210 total hours of flight experience, all of which was in helicopters. He had about 100 total hours of experience in make and model, approximately 90 hours of which were in the accident helicopter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.