NTSB ERA20CA319 — 2020-09-10 · Kenansville, Florida, United States

Current FAA registration · N57AN

Make / Model: ROTORWAY INTL EXEC 162F
Engine: AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20011027
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A74C1D

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N57AN Rotorway EXEC 162F None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the helicopter during takeoff.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the experimental amateur-built helicopter reported that during takeoff, when the left skid was coming off the ground, he felt a small jerk, so he moved the cyclic to the left and forward. When the cyclic moved it hit the passenger’s left knee. The passenger “jerked” and the cyclic moved back to the right and the helicopter “instantaneously” rolled over to the right side and struck the ground. The pilot and the passenger were not injured, and the helicopter’s main rotor and tail boom sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA20CA319.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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