ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 170181
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Sunday 28 September 2014 |
| Time: | 15:20 |
| Type: | Eagle Helicycle |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N7062U |
| MSN: | 4-13-E2413 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2008 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 15 hours |
| Engine model: | Solar T-62-32 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | NW of Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Gallatin, TN |
| Gallatin, TN (M33) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The private pilot of the experimental amateur-built, single seat, helicopter departed his home airport, flew to a friend's property, and landed uneventfully. After his visit, the pilot started the helicopter, lifted off, and departed to the southwest. About 1 minute later, his friend observed the helicopter coming toward him in a nose-low attitude, about 400 ft above ground level, and at a "high rate of speed." The helicopter suddenly pitched over, began to tumble, and impacted in an inverted attitude; a postcrash fire ensued. Sound spectrum analysis of a video of the accident flight indicated that the helicopter was flying at an airspeed of at least 83 knots when the loss of control occurred.
The pilot did not possess a rotorcraft helicopter rating. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed entries that indicated the pilot had been endorsed for solo flight in the Robinson R22 and had flown an R22 solo. However, according to the flight instructor who had given the pilot about 21 hours of flight instruction in an R22, he had not endorsed the pilot for solo flight in the R22, and he had observed that the pilot had some "bad habits" and would occasionally lose control of the helicopter. It is likely that the pilot made the logbook entries to indicate that he had soloed because they were required by the helicopter kit manufacturer before he could receive a factory checkout of the helicopter, which he had purchased about 6 months before the accident.
The factory checkout was conducted on the day before the accident. According to the factory check pilot, during the checkout, the pilot kept making mistakes and advised the check pilot that he was very tired because he had not slept for 2 days due to anticipation of the checkout. Also, during the checkout, the check pilot determined that the weight and balance of the helicopter was not correct, and the pilot would need to fly the helicopter so they could check the position of the cyclic stick during hover. The pilot advised the check pilot that, because of his lack of sleep and nervousness, he did not feel it safe to fly the helicopter that day. As a result, the check pilot reminded him that he would need to check the weight and balance and the position of the cyclic stick during hover before operating the helicopter, since it was not accomplished that day.
Examination of the wreckage did not reveal evidence of any preimpact failures or malfunctions of the helicopter or engine that would have precluded normal operation. A piece of angle iron was discovered in the debris field, which, according to the pilot's friend, the pilot had attached to the helicopter's tailboom for weight and balance purposes. However, calculations revealed that the helicopter's center of gravity was outside the forward edge of the weight and balance envelope approved by the kit manufacturer. It is likely that the out of balance condition combined with the high speed of the low-altitude pass resulted in the loss of control.
The pilot had therapeutic levels of the antidepressant sertraline in his blood at the time of the accident. Although any psychoactive medications can be impairing, sertraline is not known to directly cause sleepiness or other impairing symptoms. Therefore, it is unlikely that effects from sertraline impaired the pilot. However, sertraline is prescribed for treatment of depression, and major depression itself is associated with significant cognitive degradation, particularly in executive functioning. The cognitive degradation may not improve even with remission of the depressed episode, and patients with severe disease are more significantly affected than those with fewer symptoms or episodes.
The pilot demonstrated poor decision-making and executive function when he decided to fly the helicopter without having soloed in the R22 and without adequately addressing the identified issue with the helicopter's weight and balance. Additionally, flying the helicopter at high speed and low altitude further demonstrated his impaired executive function. One month before the accident, th
Probable Cause: The pilot's decision to fly the improperly balanced helicopter at high speed and low altitude, which resulted in a loss of control and collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's depression and resulting degradation of executive function and the pilot's use of a sedating antihistamine, which resulted in impaired mental and motor skills.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N7062U
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Sep-2014 06:13 | gerard57 | Added |
| 29-Sep-2014 21:47 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source] |
| 10-Oct-2014 16:34 | Geno | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Damage] |
| 10-Oct-2014 16:35 | Geno | Updated [Phase] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 04-Apr-2017 17:57 | PiperOnslaught | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Aug-2017 14:00 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Aircraft type, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation