Graham Mini-500 accident near Renfrew, PA
On September 7, 2002, a Graham Mini-500 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Renfrew, PA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- September 7, 2002
- Place
- Renfrew, PA
- Aircraft
- Graham Mini-500 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 40.806°N, 79.964°W
- NTSB ID
- 20020920X05188
NTSB summary
On September 7, 2002, about 1400 eastern daylight time, a Mini-500 homebuilt helicopter, N373TG, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain near Renfrew, Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that departed the Butler Farm Show Airport (3G9), Butler, Pennsylvania, destined for the Zelienople Municipal Airport (8G7), Zelienople, Pennsylvania. A flight plan was not filed, and the flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The helicopter was reported missing on September 7, 2002, and was located on September 8, 2002. No information regarding the en route portion of the flight was available. No witnesses reported seeing the accident, and the pilot was not in radio contact with any air traffic control facilities, or automated flight service stations. The accident time was approximated by using the time of departure, the distance from the departure airport to the accident site, and the amount of fuel estimated to be at the accident site. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single engine land rating, and a helicopter rating. On his last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) third-class medical certificate, which was dated June 7, 2001, he reported a total flight experience of 520 hours. The pilot's logbook was not located at the accident site and follow on attempts to find it were unsuccessful. According to an FAA inspector, the helicopter had a total of 25.6 hours of operation since construction. Examination of the wreckage revealed minor damage to both ma
Probable cause
Failure of the main transmission.
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Browse: Pennsylvania
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
