Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mojave Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mojave, California 93501
Tuesady, August 12, 1997 10:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The dual student had a fixed wing pilot certificate issued by a foreign country, and no prior rotorcraft flight experience. The flight instructor reported that he was doing pattern work with the student and that he was 'guarding the controls while the left seat pilot was flying.' He further stated that on the third pattern, the student allowed the rpm to decrease and he cautioned the student to 'watch the RPM.' The student then raised the collective without adding additional throttle. As the instructor reached for the throttle, the student quickly raised the collective without any other action. The aircraft then yawed to the right and the rotor rpm decreased even further. The student then applied a rearward cyclic input in an attempt to flare the aircraft. The tail rotor struck the ground, destroying the tail rotor and shearing the tail rotor driveshaft. The aircraft touched down in a right turn and the skids collapsed. The instructor reported that during the accident sequence he was 'attempting to regain aircraft control while calling for [the student] to release the controls.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student's improper use of the throttle and collective controls and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | MOJAVE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93501 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MOJAVE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MHV |
| 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 | 2787 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1510 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1058 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9021R |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA285 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47G2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 47G2 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CCI-165 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 20 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 54 |
| Airframe Hours | 7751 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOSEPH PIKE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4718 NARA VISTA WAY #102 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89103 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NATIONAL TEST PILOT SCHOOL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1062 FLIGHTLINE ROAD, #161 |
| Operator City | MOJAVE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93501 |
| Operator Code | |
| 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 | MHV |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 4 |
| Runway Length | 3960 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |