Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Piru, California 93040
Saturday, January 22, 2000 13:15 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The instructor took his fiance up to introduce her to helicopter operations. After completing training he landed in a riverbed to wait for traffic to clear. After a few minutes he prepared to liftoff. As he lifted off, the right skid stayed in contact with the ground, and the helicopter continued to roll over to the right.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the pilot to maintain control after encountering a dynamic rollover.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/22/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City PIRU
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93040
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 1
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1251 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 105
Weather Observation Facility ID VNY
Elevation of weather observation facility 799
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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) 959
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 22 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1346
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 2 2001 2:24PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4072T
NTSB Number LAX00LA079
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 R22B
Aircraft Series Identifier R22B
Aircraft Serial Number 1747
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 Dec 30 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 80
Airframe Hours 5429
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DRAGON FLY CORP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16425 HART
Aircraft Owner City VAN NUYS
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91406
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name GROUP 3 AVIATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 VNY
Departure City VAN NUYS
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1145
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 Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 2 2001 4:08AM
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 --