Bell 47G accident near Bunnell, Florida, May 28, 1998
On May 28, 1998 at about 8:30 pm local time, a Bell 47G (helicopter), registered N182JR, was substantially damaged in an accident near Bunnell, Florida (Flager County airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot-in-command(CFI) failure to maintain control of the aircraft.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 28, 1998 · about 8:30 pm local time
- Place
- Bunnell, Florida · Flager County · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Bell 47G · all 47Gs on the register
- Registration
- N182JR · registry record · serial 22
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The CFI stated he was providing instruction to the student pilot on how to conduct a normal landing. He said that everything was normal until the wind '... probably shifted during the approach'. He stated that '... upon loosing E.L.T. (he) came up with the collective and the helicopter settled down without any reaction to the rate of descent'. Once the helicopter touched down, it bounced back up. The hard landing caused the main rotor blade to flex down and strike the tailboom causing substantial damage to the helicopter. The CFI stated that when the helicopter was 8 to 10 feet over the ground, it started to lose altitude. The pilot claims to have responded by applying pitch. The commercial-rated CFI had about 500 hours of rotary flight time. He had 5 hours of instructional time. This was the first instructional flight in the Bell 47 helicopter. The surface weather observation at Daytona Beach International, about 19 nautical miles south of Flagler County Airport, reported winds from 310 magnetic at 10 knots at the time of the accident.
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: flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 500 hours in all; 6 in this make and model; 40 in the last 90 days; 40 in the last 30 days; 400 as pilot in command; 5 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,000 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 28, 1998; 30 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,950 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Franklin V335 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Wing And Rotor International
The flight
- Departed from: X47 at 7:30 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 9 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 7,000 ft; scat at 2,100 ft
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 72°F (22°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:30 pm from DAB, 19 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N182JR the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.