Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ford Island Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Wednesday, June 30, 1999 12:10 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the joint civil/military airport, the instructor saw a Navy UH3H helicopter on the base leg to the same runway. The CTAF operator cautioned them about wake turbulence. The student asked if he should extend the downwind, but the instructor advised him to just stay above the helicopter's flight path. The instructor said that while turning to the base leg, they could see that the helicopter was still on the runway. On short final approach nearing the runway, the instructor announced their position on the CTAF. The helicopter remained on the runway, so the instructor advised the student to go around. At that point, the airplane was slightly past the runway threshold and the helicopter was about 2,500 feet down the 4,000-foot runway. The instructor stated that as the student initiated the go-around, the aircraft encountered some turbulence, and rolled 90 degrees to the right. The instructor then noticed the helicopter lifting off the ground. He took over the controls but had difficulty maintaining control of the aircraft. He stated that he attempted to fly out of the rotor wash, but didn't have sufficient altitude to maneuver safely. The airplane sank onto its right wing, bounced, and landed on the nose gear, which then collapsed. The airport is an auxiliary landing field for a naval air station. According to the airport facility directory, civil operations were permitted, but limited to daylight VFR conditions, and all aircraft must conform to the traffic pattern and CTAF advisories.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane's encounter with turbulent air from the rotor wash of a large military helicopter, which resulted from the instructor's decision to continue the approach while the helicopter was on the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/30/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | HONOLULU |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96819 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FORD ISLAND AIRSTRIP |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NPS |
| 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 | 18 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| 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) | 1695 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 30 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1436 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 14 2001 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N63614 |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA238 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15077429 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| 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 10 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 10037 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | OAHU AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 99 IOLANA PLACE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HONOLULU |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96819 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HNL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NPS |
| 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 14 2001 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |