Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Huntsville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Huntsville, Texas 77340
Saturday, September 27, 1997 11:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot was making a downwind approach to runway 36, when he lost directional control of the helicopter. During the approach, he realized he 'was coming in (too) fast,' and continued down the runway. At about '5 feet from the ground' and approximately 500 feet from the departure end of the runway, he applied aft cyclic, 'pulled collective and add[ed] left pedal.' The helicopter began to spin to the right and drift to the east. The student applied 'left pedal;' however, the spin did not stop. The helicopter descended, and the 'right skid' impacted the ground. Subsequently, the helicopter 'rolled over to the right.' Before the pilot had started his final approach to land, he crossed the runway at mid-field at about 800 feet to check the windsock, and he 'thought that the wind was a little bit strong from North West;' however, a flight instructor who witnessed the accident, reported that the wind was out of the south. Density altitude was 1,767 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the student pilot to maintain directional control of the helicopter during a flare to landing. Factors relating to the accident were: the student pilot's misinterpretation of the wind direction, his selection of the wrong runway, and the resultant tailwind during landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/27/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HUNTSVILLE |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77340 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HUNTSVILLE MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UTS |
| 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 | 366 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UTS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 366 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1767 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1366 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 27 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1437 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8316W |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA366 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2482 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | Sep 23 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 848 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HELICOPTER SERVICES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19931 STUEBNER AIRLINE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | SPRING |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77379 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DWH |
| Departure City | HOUSTON |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | UTS |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5004 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |