Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Uvalde, Texas 78802
Friday, August 7, 1998 9:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After positioning the helicopter for takeoff (where he had successfully operated the helicopter from on previous occasions), the pilot attempted a confined area take offover a stand of trees. The pilot stated that he had to 'lift straight up to clear the trees.' Upon reaching a hover just above the tree tops, the pilot 'felt power bleeding off so [he] nosed over trying to get airspeed.' He could not 'get any airspeed', so he turned toward a narrow clearing using 'right pedal' and reduced collective to 'make a run on landing.' Upon ground contact, the right skid dug into the rain soaked ground, and the helicopter rolled onto its side blades. After the accident, the pilot reported that it had been raining for 1 1/2 days prior to the accident and that it was 'hot and muggy' on the morning of the accident. He estimated the temperature to be about 95 degrees with 'high humidity and no wind.' He also stated that he did not believe he had any type of mechanical failure and that the engine seemed to be performing normally. He felt that the density altitude, gross weight, and the out of ground effect operation all contributed to the accident. The approximate elevation in the area of the accident is 941 feet MSL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control during a vertical, out of ground effect takeoff which resulted in a hard emergency landing. Factors were; the exceeded hover performance of the helicopter, the high density altitude, and the lack of suitable terrain for the emergency landing [high obstructions (trees) and soft ground].
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | UVALDE |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78802 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| 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 | 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | 763 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1359 |
| 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 | N9425F |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA356 |
| 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 | 269B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 269B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-0158 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | Jun 15 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 2521 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RONALD T. HONAKER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 778 |
| Aircraft Owner City | UVALDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78802 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | -- |