Rotorway JETEXEC accident near Arthur, KY
On September 3, 2022, a Rotorway JETEXEC (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Arthur, KY. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 3, 2022
- Place
- Arthur, KY
- Aircraft
- Rotorway JETEXEC · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 37.176°N, 86.150°W
- NTSB ID
- 20220906105866
Official records · ERA22FA397
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On September 3, 2022, about 1740 central daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built RotorWay JetExec helicopter, N162NH, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Arthur, Kentucky. The pilot was fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The accident pilot was a friend of the helicopter owner, who had purchased the helicopter about 1 week before the accident and asked his friend to fly the helicopter from Missouri to Tennessee. The owner of the helicopter stated that he was “worried” about the weather on the day of the accident and tried to talk the pilot into waiting to fly the helicopter to Tennessee until the weather improved. The pilot did not want to wait, and he and his wife departed on the cross country flight about 1030. According to the seller and previous owner, about 30 minutes later, the helicopter returned to the departure airport so that the pilot could drop off his wife. The seller stated that he tried to talk the pilot out of leaving that day because that flight would be long and rain was occurring along the route. The pilot waited “a couple of hours for the weather to improve” and then departed again. On September 5, the helicopter wreckage was located in heavily wooded, steep terrain in Mammoth Cave National State Park. Review of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that data associated with the helicopter’s flight track ended about 40 nautical miles prior to the accident location. Additionally, the terrain became general
Probable cause
The pilot’s decision to attempt the cross-country flight in thunderstorm conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to obtain a weather briefing.
More accidents in KY
- Bombardier, Inc. CRJ-100, Aug 27, 2006
- Piper PA-31T2, Feb 17, 1982
- Cessna 401A, Aug 28, 2006
- Piper PA-32R-301T, Apr 3, 1988
- Piper PA-32R-301, Mar 22, 2004
Browse: Kentucky · Rotorway aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
