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SEA92FA016

1991-11-08 · SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SLC

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. FACTORS TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: INADEQAUTE REMEDIAL ACTION, OVER CONFIDENCE IN PERSONAL ABILITY, AND LACK OF RECENT EXPEREINCE.

Factual narrative

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FLIGHT, THE HELICOPTER LIFTED OFF FROM THE PARKING RAMP AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN SPINNING AS IT ASCENDED TO AN ALTITUDE OF APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET. WITNESSES REPORTED THAT AT THE PEAK OF THE CLIMB, THE RATE OF ROTATION SLOWED AND THE HELICOPTER BEGAN A RAPID DESCENT. PITCH ANGLE DIFFERENCES IN THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES, ALONG WITH A DECREASE IN THE MAIN ROTOR ROTATION, WERE NOTICED. THE HELICOPTER'S PITCH ANGLE (NOSE UP AND NOSE DOWN) WAS ERRATIC. JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT, THE HELICOPTER STABILIZED AND WAS NOT ROTATING WHEN IT IMPACTED ON THE RAMP A FEW HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE TAKEOFF POINT. THE HELICOPTER WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES UPON IMPACT. SOME OF THE WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THE HELICOPTER WAS SPINNING TO THE LEFT, WHILE OTHERS REPORTED THAT IT WAS SPINNING TO THE RIGHT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_SEA92FA016.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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