Pilot Debrief

AGUSTA A109E near Gainesville, FL — 2009-03-06

Final reportERA09IA186
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Date
2009-03-06
Location
Gainesville, FL, USA
Aircraft
AGUSTA A109E
Registration
N911UF
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

An inadvertent in-flight collision with a duck.

NTSB narrative

During a nighttime helicopter patient transfer, while the helicopter was descending through 800 feet at 145 knots, a duck impacted the windshield. The windshield shattered, and a number of switches and circuit breakers on the pilot’s overhead panel were broken, while others were turned off. The engine throttles were not affected. The pilot maintained control of the helicopter and landed it without further incident. Analysis of windshield fracture surfaces revealed that they were typical of overstress with bending deformations. There was no forward shielding of the overhead panel switches and throttles.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Environmental
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have chosen to avoid flight in known bird strike areas.

NTSB coding

  • Birdstrike · Enroute-descent

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 6 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents6

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