ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 295280
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| Date: | Friday 5 September 2003 |
| Time: | 15:35 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-140 |
| Owner/operator: | Somerset Air Service |
| Registration: | N6183J |
| MSN: | 28-7625228 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1976 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Somerville, New Jersey -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Readington, NJ (N51) |
| Somerville-Somerset Airport, NJ (KSMQ) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
According to the pilot of the accident airplane, while he was on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, he heard a helicopter announce over the UNICOM frequency that he was "inbound...5 miles to the northeast." The pilot continued in the pattern, and when he was at an altitude of 100 feet on final approach, he obtained visual contact with the helicopter, which was descending towards the taxiway adjacent to runway 30, about 1/3 down the runway. The pilot then decided to initiate a go-around; however, the airplane had already "lost its lift," and only climbed to about 20-30 feet before it was blown "by the propwash of the helicopter" to the left of the runway. The right wing dropped, impacted the runway, and the airplane "cartwheeled," coming to rest on the grassy area between the runway and taxiway. A review of FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 90-23E, Wake Turbulence, revealed: "A hovering helicopter generates a downwash from its main rotor(s) similar to the "prop wash" of a conventional aircraft. However, in forward flight, this energy is transformed into a pair of strong, high-speed trailing vortices similar to wing-tip vortices of larger fixed-wing aircraft. Pilots should avoid helicopter vortices since helicopter forward flight airspeeds are often very low which generate exceptionally strong wake turbulence."
Probable Cause: The pilot's delay in executing a go-around, which resulted in an encounter with wake turbulence from a helicopter. A factor in the accident was the wake turbulence.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB NYC03LA195
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 5 September 1991 | N6183J | Somerset Air Service Inc. | 0 | Somerville, NJ | |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Oct-2022 06:35 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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