Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Luis Obispo Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Luis Obispo, California 93401
Saturday, March 14, 1998 16:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor reported that he and the dual student were doing traffic pattern operations to a grass area parallel to runway 29. The CFI stated that while they were on the downwind leg of the first pattern about 500 feet agl, the student was on the controls and was preparing for the approach with the prelanding checklist. The student reached down to apply carburetor heat, but instead pulled the mixture to idle. The engine stopped and the instructor then took over the controls and performed an autorotation to the grass field. The helicopter continued forward on the ground after the touchdown and the front portion of the skids became imbedded in the ground and the helicopter then nosed over. The blades hit the ground and the helicopter rolled over and came to rest on its right side.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's inadvertent pulling of the mixture, instead of the carburetor heat, while preparing for the approach, and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/14/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SAN LUIS OBISPO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93401 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SAN LUIS OBISPO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SBP |
| 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 | 209 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1650 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 209 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| 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 | 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) | 229 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 14 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1652 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4079M |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA115 |
| 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 | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1816 |
| 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 | Feb 24 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 |
| Airframe Hours | 2901 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HELIPRO INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 945 AIRPORT DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN LUIS OBISPO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93401 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SBP |
| Departure City | SAN LUIS OBISPO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1634 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |