NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN21LA456
Registry · N662RL
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
BELL 407
Year of manufacture
1997 · 24 years old at event
TCDS
H2SW · BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA LTD
Engine
ROLLS-ROYC 250-C47B (650 hp)
Seats / Engines
7 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20150505
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A8BD29
Registrant of record
ROTOCRAFT LEASING COMPANY LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate clearance from a parked helicopter while hovering to reposition for takeoff.
Factual narrative
While hovering from the helicopter pad to reposition for takeoff, the pilot backed up the helicopter. During a pedal turn, the tail rotor contacted another helicopter’s main rotor blades, which was parked and located behind on another pad. The pilot reported she felt a strong jolt to the left, and the helicopter began to spin. The pilot lowered the collective, reduced throttle, and the helicopter came to rest upright adjacent to the helicopter pad. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail boom. The operator reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Aircraft-Awareness of condition
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2021_CEN21LA456.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2010 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Approach — Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air 3407 / Continental Connection (Q400) Buffalo NY, February 12, 2009 — 50 fatalities. Definitive investigation of the Colgan 3407 stall-stick-pusher crash on approach to Buffalo.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Conference paper
Tour-Based Network Design and Demand Forecasting for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)
Tour-Based Network Design and Demand Forecasting for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Mohammed Almasabi, Dr. Yu Zhang, & Sasan Mahmoudinazlou Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) has emerged as an alternative urban…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Pilot Fatigue — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary pilot fatigue review — circadian biology, biomathematical models (SAFE/FAID), commuting impacts, regulatory frameworks (FAR 117 + EU 83/2014).
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Simulation Modeling Requirements for Loss-of-Control Accident Prevention of Turboprop Transport Aircraft
In-flight loss of control remains the leading contributor to aviation accident fatalities, with stall upsets being the leading causal factor. The February 12, 2009.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗