History of Flight
On April 30, 2011, about 2030 eastern daylight time, a Robinson R-44 II helicopter, N445AB, registered to Penn Helicopters LLC, was substantially damaged following a collision with buildings in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The commercial pilot sustained serious injuries, one passenger sustained serious injuries, and one passenger sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter was being operated under local contract as an aerial filming flight under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Indiana County Airport (Jimmy Stewart Field) about 1930.
The helicopter carried three persons involved in filming police activities. Witnesses reported low altitude flight, slow speed, and 90- and 180-degree turns. One passenger stated that after takeoff, the pilot flew two laps at about 1,000 feet, then descended to film police cars. While following cars, the helicopter turned 180 degrees without forward movement, then began bucking and spinning downward.
A witness reported seeing the helicopter at about 100 feet AGL at under 20 knots, making flat turns. He observed a sudden autorotation, nose pitch-up, and tail-down attitude before losing sight. The pilot reported no memory of the accident due to head injuries. No radio distress calls were reported; radar data was unavailable as the helicopter was below radar threshold.
Personnel Information
The pilot held commercial certificates for multi-engine airplane, single-engine airplane, rotorcraft-helicopter, and instrument airplane, plus flight instructor certificates. He held a valid second-class FAA medical certificate dated June 17, 2010. His total flight hours were 1,492, with 388 hours in rotorcraft, including about 347 hours in Robinson R-22 and 40.5 hours in Robinson R-44.
Aircraft Information
The 2005 model Robinson R-44 II had about 276.9 hours at the time of the accident. It was equipped with single flight controls and a Lycoming IO-540 engine with about 279.0 hours. Calculated weight and balance were within limits.
Meteorological Information
Witnesses reported mild weather with little wind. The nearest weather station at Indiana County Airport reported clear skies, wind from 160 degrees at 4 knots, and 10 miles visibility at 2015 local time.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The accident site was confined to an urban area among two-story buildings. The helicopter struck the tops of two buildings and came to rest nose-down against a building. The left side of the cabin was crushed upward. Main rotor blade strikes were identified on building edges. One blade was sheared at the root; the other showed impact damage. Tail rotor blades exhibited side-load damage.
The helicopter was transported to a hangar for examination. The airframe impacted in an extreme nose-low, left-skid-low attitude. No evidence of main rotor blade contact with the tailboom was found. The tail rotor guard and tail skid were undamaged. Seat support structures were deformed downward and forward. The collective control was full up, and anti-torque pedals were neutral.
Landing gear showed aft displacement of the left skid. Flight controls had impact discontinuities, with no pre-impact failures. Fuel system examination revealed no fuel remaining; samples were clean 100LL. The main fuel valve was ON. No evidence of pre-impact fuel leakage was found.
Engine Examination
The engine remained attached. After transport, the engine was test-run using an external fuel supply and battery. It started and ran for about 3-4 minutes, operating in both magneto positions. No pre-impact anomalies were found. The fuel servo, injectors, and ignition harness were undamaged. Oil filter showed no debris.
Video Analysis
A professional video camera was recovered. Two segments were analyzed: a 35-minute segment and a 73-second segment capturing the final moments. At 61 seconds into the second segment, the camera zoomed out as the helicopter began a right rotation with little forward airspeed. Between 61 and 73 seconds, the helicopter completed two full rotations to the right. At 63 seconds, the nose pitched down, returning level at 67 seconds, when altitude loss began. At 68 seconds, the nose pitched up for three seconds, then further up at 71 seconds. The video ended at 73 seconds with main rotor blades visible.
Additional Information
Robinson Safety Notice SN-34, titled "Aerial Survey and Photo Flights - Very High Risk," was included as a supplement to the R-44 Pilot Operating Handbook. It warned of the high risk of low-speed maneuvering and loss of translational lift, and recommended minimum pilot experience of 500 hours helicopter PIC and 100 hours in type, along with training in low RPM and settling-with-power recovery.