21 Mar 2015: ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 UNDESIGNAT — HEIEN BRITT

21 Mar 2015: ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 UNDESIGNAT — HEIEN BRITT

No fatalities • Lake Hamilton, AR, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's overcorrection to the landing pad shifting, which resulted in the helicopter impacting trees. A factor contributing to the accident was the collapse of the landing pad.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot stated he made an approach and landing to the landing pad. Upon landing, the pilot began reducing power, and reported that the helicopter was stabile for about 3 seconds and then part of the landing pad gave out. The pilot stated that the elevated landing pad has a clay foundation with a shell top and that recent rain may have compromised the landing pad stability. The helicopter rocked backwards and the tail skid struck the ground. The helicopter began rotating to the left and the pilot overcorrected to the right resulting in the helicopter colliding with trees. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and the tail boom. After multiple requests, the pilot did not turn in the National Transportation Safety Board Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report as requested.

The pilot verified that there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • factor Effect on operation
  • cause Performance/control parameters — Not attained/maintained
  • Contributed to outcome

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 050/05kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.