Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merced Municipal/Macready Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merced, California 95339
Wednesday, March 2, 1994 14:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was on a flight test for a CFI certificate with an FAA inspector. The inspector directed the pilot/applicant to perform a practice 180-degree autorotation, terminating with a power recovery. Upon entry, at 650 feet agl, the needles split, the rotor rpm was in the green, and the engine stabilized at 2,000 RPM. During the maneuver, the inspector noted that the helicopter was apparently going to overshoot the termination point. About 50 feet agl, the pilot began deceleration and the aircraft began to settle. At that point, the inspector still had not heard the engine rpm increase. Concerned that the throttle had not been rolled on, he took the controls and attempted to open the throttle. In spite of his efforts, the helicopter continued to settle, touched down hard about 100 feet beyond the termination point, bounced once, pitched forward, and then impacted a second time. The helicopter then rolled tail over nose finally coming to rest on its right side. A postaccident inspection failed to identify any discrepancies in the engine or power controls.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's misjudgement of the descent rate and his delayed throttle application.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/2/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | MERCED |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95339 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MERCED MUNICIPAL/MACREADY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MCE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 153 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1454 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 153 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 224 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 2 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1520 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9593F |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA146 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | HUGHES |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 269C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 540307 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 3344 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM C. MOORE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6500 S. LINDBURGH AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | STOCKTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95206 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WILLIAM C. MOORE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6500 S. LINDBURGH ST. |
| Operator City | STOCKTON |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95206 |
| Operator Code | JLEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SCK |
| Destination City | STOCKTON |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |