N627RM

On April 22, 2000, at 1214 central daylight time, a Brice Rotorway Exec 162F, N627RM, owned/built/piloted by a airline transport pilot, sustained substantial damage when the helicopter rolled-over following a loss of control at the Kimberling Airways Airport, Kimberling City, Missouri. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.

According to the pilot's written statement, "After normal preflight, I lifted off into a hover an air taxied approx 120' towards runway. I sat the helicopter down to turn on my avionics switch. I must not have lowered collective fully, as when I removed my hand from the cyclic, & the wind shifted (which is common at this airport) slightly to right front quarter, it displaced the rotor blades causing a dynamic rollover to the left." The pilot stated, "I was concentrating on my slope landing and thinking of my subsequent slope departure so thoroughly I that I did not positively notice rotor rpm dropping as I should have before taking my hand off the cyclic." The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented by, "Lowering collective fully before removing hand from cyclic".