Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Elmira Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elmira, New York 14902
Friday, December 18, 1992 15:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER WAS ON A NEW AIRCRAFT ACCEPTANCE FLIGHT TEST WITH TWO PILOTS ON BOARD. THE LEFT SEAT PILOT REPRESENTED THE PURCHASER AND THE RIGHT SEAT PILOT WAS A COMPANY PILOT AND WAS DESIGNATED PILOT IN COMMAND. THEY WERE PRACTICING A TOUCHDOWN AUTOROTATION. DURING TOUCHDOWN, BOTH PILOTS WERE ON THE CONTROLS AND THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN IN A RIGHT DRIFT AND WITH THE RIGHT SKID LOWER. AT TOUCHDOWN, THE HELICOPTER ROLLED TO THE RIGHT AND CAME TO REST ON ITS SIDE. NO TRANSFER OF CONTROL PROCEDURES HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED BEFORE TAKEOFF. LEFT SEAT PILOT HAD GONE 13 MONTHS WITHOUT PERFORMING TOUCHDOWN AUTOROTATIONS IN THIS TYPE OF HELICOPTER.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
AN UNSTABLE TOUCHDOWN WHICH RESULTED IN A ROLLOVER, INADEQUATE SUPERVISION BY THE PIC, AND FAILURE OF THE PIC TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE HELICOPTER IN A TIMELY MANNER. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LEFT SEAT PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE IN TOUCHDOWN AUTOROTATIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1520 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ELMIRA |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14902 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ELMIRA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ELM |
| 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 | 955 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | 935 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 22 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 910 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 51133 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6129Q |
| NTSB Number | NYC93LA049 |
| 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 | SCHWEIZER |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 269C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S1629 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 17 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 146 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ELMIRA |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 14902 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 146 |
| Operator City | ELMIRA |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 14902 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ELM |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ELM |
| 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 | 6 |
| Runway Length | 2020 |
| Runway Width | 180 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |