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Atlas / NTSB / ERA11CA487

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA11CA487

2011-09-10 Panama City, Florida, United States Airport · 75FL Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N407HK

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BELL 407

Year of manufacture

1996 · 15 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

20220812

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A4C75B

Registrant of record

HAWKEYE HELICOPTER LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing site, which resulted in a collision with a culvert.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane, he entered the traffic pattern with the intention to land on the southern part of the private turf runway, to avoid the construction on the new paved runway. According to a witness, the pilot executed a normal landing. During the landing rollout, the right main landing gear impacted a culvert. The airplane veered to the right and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. According to the pilot, he entered the traffic pattern with the intention of landing on the southern part of the private turf runway in order to avoid construction on the new paved runway. According to a witness, the pilot executed a normal landing. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear impacted a culvert. The airplane veered to the right and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. 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).

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
  • C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-(general)-Decision related to condition - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_ERA11CA487.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.