Brooks EXEC 162F N66012
22 December 2007 · Santa Maria, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 22 December 2007 at about 21:30 local time, a Brooks EXEC 162F registered N66012 was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 21:30
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Santa Maria, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- Santa Maria Public (SMX)
- Coordinates
- 34.8989, -120.4575
- Aircraft
- Brooks EXEC 162F
- Registration
- N66012
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Santa Maria → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- SEA08CA055
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during hover. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in rotorcraft.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot was hovering his amateur built experimental helicopter for the first time. Upon liftoff, the helicopter began drifting to the left, and the pilot lowered the collective without controlling the drift to the left. The left skid contacted the ground, and the helicopter experienced dynamic rollover and rolled over coming to rest on its left side. The pilot had a private pilot certificate with a single engine land airplane rating. He was not rated in helicopters and his total time in rotorcraft was 12 hours, all of which were dual instruction in the accident make and model of helicopter.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jun 2007 | Piper PA-28-180 | Rosamond, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Jul 2007 | Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-2C | Bridgeport, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 22 May 2007 | Schweizer SGS2-33A | Los Alamitos, California, United States | Civil Air Patrol - California Wing | No injuries | - |
| 25 May 2007 | Westland WASP HAS MK1 | Ramona, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 8 Jul 2007 | Cessna 152 | Tracy, California, United States | California Airways | Minor injuries | - |
| 25 May 2007 | Skygear SKYGEAR | Chino, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |