Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Brentwood, California 90451
Monday, June 5, 2000 16:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The solo student pilot was practicing quick stop maneuvers. He reported that, during one maneuver, the helicopter was nearly stopped in a high hover at 30 feet agl, and he was descending to low hover when the helicopter started vibrating and yawed to the left. The controls became ineffective and the helicopter started spinning around until it impacted the ground and then rolled on its side. When examined after the accident, the main rotor blades exhibited modest leading edge damage, modest chordwise striations, and approximately 20 degrees of uniform root-to-tip upward bending deformation. One tail rotor blade was undamaged and the other was bent about 10 degrees tip-inboard at the midspan. The engine was started and ran smoothly. No preaccident mechanical anomalies were noted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student's improper execution of a quick-stop maneuver in that he misjudged his altitude and failed to terminate at a stationary hover prior to descending to a low hover. This resulted in an excessive engine power requirement and the student improperly coordinated the use of the collective and anti-torque controls.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/5/2000
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BRENTWOOD
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90451
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 6
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID CCR
Elevation of weather observation facility 23
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 72
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 52
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10276
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 5 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 30 2001 11:11AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2029H
NTSB Number LAX00LA216
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-1
Aircraft Series Identifier 269C-1
Aircraft Serial Number 0100
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
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 Apr 26 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 96
Airframe Hours 395
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HELICOPTER ADVENTURES INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 81 JOHN GLENN DR.
Aircraft Owner City CONCORD
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94520
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CCR
Departure City CONCORD
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 Hover
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2001 8:28AM
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 --