NTSB Identification: CEN12LA343
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, June 02, 2012 in Denver, CO
Aircraft: SCHWEIZER 269C, registration: N2196F
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 2, 2012, about 1135 mountain daylight time, a Schweizer 269C helicopter, N2196F, entered ground resonance when it set down on the ramp at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC), near Denver, Colorado. The commercial pilot and the passenger were uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its tail boom during the ground resonance. The helicopter was registered to Top Flight Rotors LLC and operated by TYJ Global under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Day visual flight rules (VFR) conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on a company VFR flight plan. The local flight was originating from BJC at the time of the accident.

The pilot reported that the flight was an introductory discovery flight for his student passenger. The pilot indicated that he picked the helicopter up into a two foot skid height hover. An airplane started to taxi in front of the helicopter. The pilot, in part, stated:

To avoid my downwash disturbing the airplane, or his prop wash from
disturbing me, I set the helicopter back onto the ground as a courtesy. I
set down the left skid first and then the right, utilizing a two point touch
down. When the right skid made contact, the helicopter tried to drift to
the right. I put slight left cyclic input in to keep the helicopter from
drifting to the right as I lowered collective. As I lowered the collective fully
and the skids started to settle apart, I noticed a slight low frequency
vibration. Immediately, the vibration got worse, and I determined the
helicopter was in the beginning phase of ground resonance. My engine
RPM was too low, as was my collective, to pick the helicopter up off the
ground to restore the rotor blades to their correct phase in time. With
the collective full down, I rolled the throttle to idle to try and get rid of
ground resonance. Within seconds, the helicopter had shaken itself apart.

At 1050, the recorded weather at BJC was: wind variable at 4 knots; visibility 50 statute miles; sky condition scattered 7,000 feet, scattered 20,000 feet; temperature 23 degrees C; dew point 4degrees C; altimeter 30.00 inches of mercury.

The helicopter landing gear dampners have been retained. A detailed examination of the dampners will be conducted with the helicopter manufacturer.

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