Amateur-built MINI-500 accident near Villa Rica, Georgia, May 13, 1998
On May 13, 1998 at about 8:30 pm local time, a amateur-built MINI-500 (helicopter), registered N355RM, was substantially damaged in an accident near Villa Rica, Georgia (Stockmar airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's choice of landing area during a precautionary landing adjacent to the runway. This resulted in an in-flight collision of the left skid with a rock during a cyclic flare, loss of directional control, and subsequent collision of the main rotor blade with the tail boom.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 13, 1998 · about 8:30 pm local time
- Place
- Villa Rica, Georgia · Stockmar · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built MINI-500
- Registration
- N355RM · registry record · serial 0305
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot stated that while in cruise flight he experienced a vibration/buzz sound. He set up for a precautionary, run-on landing to the nearest airport's single runway. When he realized the runway was in use, he elected to land onto an adjacent, grassy area. The left skid collided with a rock, the helicopter experienced a loss of directional control, yawed counterclockwise, and the main rotor blade severed the tailboom.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: glider; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 7,200 hours in all; 55 in this make and model; 80 in the last 90 days; 18 in the last 30 days; 7,000 as pilot in command; 1,000 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: ctr
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 49 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, January 21, 1998; 49 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 840 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Bombardier 582 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: Cedartown GA at 7:50 pm
- Destination: 7GA9 Whitesburg GA
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 260° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 88°F (31°C), dew point 63°F (17°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:53 pm from ATL, 28 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.