Sunday, March 09, 2014

Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, N4335T, Julep Arbor Flying LLC: Accident occurred March 08, 2014 at Rowan County Airport (KRUQ), Salisbury, North Carolina

NTSB Identification: ERA14CA150 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, March 08, 2014 in Salisbury, NC
Probable Cause Approval Date: 07/30/2014
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28-140, registration: N4335T
Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

At the time of the accident, simultaneous operations were being conducted at the airport. Airplanes were in left traffic for landing on runway 20, and military helicopters were in right traffic landing to a midfield helipad on the west (right) side of the runway. According to the flight instructor (CFI) in the accident airplane, the student pilot completed three touch-and-go landings and proceeded around the pattern for a fourth landing. During the landing the airplane approached the runway as a helicopter "suddenly lifted to a hover." Several witness statements and security video revealed that the 2,150-pound airplane followed behind an airplane that landed on the runway, and passed abeam an 18,000-pound Army utility helicopter on final approach to the helipad, before it banked sharply to the right and impacted terrain. Post-accident examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed partial separation of the right wing and substantial damage to the fuselage. The CFI reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 

According to the FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual, section 7-3-7:

In a slow hover taxi or stationary hover near the surface, helicopter main rotor(s) generate down wash producing high velocity outwash vortices to a distance approximately three times the diameter of the rotor. When rotor downwash hits the surface, the resulting outwash vortices have behavioral characteristics similar to wing tip vortices produced by fixed wing aircraft. However, the vortex circulation is outward, upward, around, and away from the main rotor(s) in all directions. Pilots of small aircraft should avoid operating within three rotor diameters of any helicopter in a slow hover taxi or stationary hover. In forward flight, departing or landing helicopters produce a pair of strong, high-speed trailing vortices similar to wing tip vortices of larger fixed wing aircraft. Pilots of small aircraft should use caution when operating behind or crossing behind landing and departing helicopters.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The flight instructor's decision to continue the landing in close proximity to a landing helicopter, resulting in an encounter with rotor vortices, loss of airplane control, and collision with terrain.

At the time of the accident, simultaneous operations were being conducted at the airport. Airplanes were in left traffic for landing on runway 20, and military helicopters were in right traffic landing to a midfield helipad on the west (right) side of the runway. According to the flight instructor (CFI) in the accident airplane, the student pilot completed three touch-and-go landings and proceeded around the pattern for a fourth landing. During the landing the airplane approached the runway as a helicopter "suddenly lifted to a hover." Several witness statements and security video revealed that the 2,150-pound airplane followed behind an airplane that landed on the runway, and passed abeam an 18,000-pound Army utility helicopter on final approach to the helipad, before it banked sharply to the right and impacted terrain. Post-accident examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed partial separation of the right wing and substantial damage to the fuselage. The CFI reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 

According to the FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual, section 7-3-7:

In a slow hover taxi or stationary hover near the surface, helicopter main rotor(s) generate down wash producing high velocity outwash vortices to a distance approximately three times the diameter of the rotor. When rotor downwash hits the surface, the resulting outwash vortices have behavioral characteristics similar to wing tip vortices produced by fixed wing aircraft. However, the vortex circulation is outward, upward, around, and away from the main rotor(s) in all directions. Pilots of small aircraft should avoid operating within three rotor diameters of any helicopter in a slow hover taxi or stationary hover. In forward flight, departing or landing helicopters produce a pair of strong, high-speed trailing vortices similar to wing tip vortices of larger fixed wing aircraft. Pilots of small aircraft should use caution when operating behind or crossing behind landing and departing helicopters.

http://registry.faa.gov/N4335T

A flight instructor and student pilot wree injured when 1971 Piper 140 aircraft crashed during landing at the Rowan County Airport around noon today.
“The plane was in the process of landing. Something occurred that caused the plane to veer off the runway, and once it veered off the runway – off the pavement – it crashed,” said Rowan County Emergency Services Director Frank Thomason.

The crash happened adjacent to the main airport runway.

“The information just isn’t conclusive at this point to say exactly what caused the crash,” he said, adding, “There’s a lot of factors.”

Both the instructor, Randy Fleming, and student, Vibra Chanera, sustained non-critical, non-life threatening injuries and were taken to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center by EMS, then transferred to N.C. Baptist Hospital for precautionary measures, according to Thomason.

The aircraft belongs to Richard Franklin of Salisbury.


ROWAN COUNTY, NC (WBTV) -  Officials on scene confirm two people were taken to hospital after a small plane crash at the Rowan County Airport.

The crash happened just after 12:30 p.m. at the far end of the runway, north of Red Acres Road.

Officials say the two people are expected to be okay.

Rowan County EMS Director Frank Thomason said the pair were in the process of landing when they veered off the runway and into the grass, causing the plan to crash.

The people involved in the crash were taken to Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem.

The two were identified as instructor Randy Fleming and student Vibra Chanera.  The plane is registered to Richard Franklin.

Officials say a trainer and a student were in the plane.

The plane is a Piper PA28-140.

The Locke Fire Department, as well as firefighters from Salisbury, police and sheriff's deputies, Rowan County EMS, and the Rowan Rescue Squad were observed at the site.


SALISBURY, N.C. – Paramedics transported two people to the hospital following a small plane crash at Rowan County Airport, emergency officials say.  

It happened around noon Saturday at the field in Salisbury.

Officials say an instructor and trainee were close to landing when the plane diverged from the route and crashed into nearby grass.

The plane is a Piper PA-28-140.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Paramedics first took the victims to Rowan Medical Center but they have been transported to NC Baptist in Winston-Salem. Their injuries are said to be non-life-threatening. 

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