Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kiptopeka, Virginia 23062
Monday, July 11, 1994 16:18 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A CESSNA 172RG, N6624R, WAS ON A FLIGHT TO SPOT FISH FROM ABOUT 3500' MSL. IN THE SAME VICINITY, A NAVY SIKORKSY MH-53A HELICOPTER WAS ON A MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHT. THEY COLLIDED IN MIDAIR OVER THE CHESAPEAKE BAY, NEAR KIPTOPEKA, VA. THE 172RG WENT INTO AN UNCONTROLLED DESCENT & CRASHED IN THE BAY; THE HELICOPTER WAS LANDED IN A FIELD. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE 172RG PILOT HAD CONTACTED THE DR-1 CONTROLLER AT NORFOLK DEPARTURE CONTROL (ATC) AT 1458 EDT. HE WAS ASSIGNED A TRANSPONDER CODE & WAS RECEIVING VFR FLIGHT FOLLOWING. THE HELICOPTER PILOT WAS NOT IN CONTACT WITH ATC & WAS USING A VFR TRANSPONDER CODE OF 1200. TWO CONTROLLER CHANGES OCCURRED AT THE DR-1 POSITION AFTER N6624R ESTABLISHED CONTACT. AT 1610 EDT, THE 2ND CONTROLLER GAVE A RELIEF BRIEFING TO THE 3RD CONTROLLER & REFERENCED THE 172RG. THE HELICOPTER HAD BEEN OPERATING AT ABOUT 500'; THE PILOT THEN MADE A CLIMB (MOMENTARILY) TO ABOUT 6000' TO TEST A FUEL DUMPING SYSTEM. RADAR DATA SHOWED THE HELICOPTER THEN ENTERED A DESCENT & WAS TURNING WHEN IT CONVERGED ON THE 172RG FROM ABOVE & BEHIND. AT ABOUT 1618, THE MIDAIR COLLISION OCCURRED ABOUT 3500' MSL. THERE HAD BEEN NO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ATC & THE 172RG PILOT FOR ABOUT 33 MINUTES BEFORE THE COLLISION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE FLIGHTCREW OF THE HELICOPTER. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: FAILURE OF THE DEPARTURE CONTROLLER TO ISSUE A TRAFFIC ADVISORY.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1618 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | KIPTOPEKA |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23062 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1550 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1439 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 11 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6624R | N62505 |
| NTSB Number | NYC94FA119A | NYC94FA119B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | Military VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA | Sikorsky |
| Aircraft Model | 172RG | MH-53E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172RG | MH-53E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172RG0219 | 162505 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 | 69750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | Military |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 11 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 16 1994 12:00AM | Jul 7 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2650 | 2055 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM SKLAR | DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | POB 6121 | |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHESAPEAKE | WASHINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA | DC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23323 | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | US NAVY | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | NAS NORFOLK | |
| Operator City | NORFOLK | |
| Operator State | VA | |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 23311 | |
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVG | NGU |
| Departure City | PORTSMOUTH | NAS NORFOLK |
| Departure State | VA | VA |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 1559 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ||
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |