Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake Piru, California 91406
Friday, July 14, 2000 9:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor and the commercial pilot were practicing autorotations in preparation for a flight instructor check ride by the commercial pilot. The instructor said they were practicing full touchdown autorotations and on the first attempt, the commercial pilot had placed the cyclic too far forward. On the second attempt, the commercial pilot placed the cyclic too far back causing the main rotor blade to come into contact with the tailboom assembly.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The improper use of the cyclic control by the pilot under instruction, and the flight instructor's lack of remedial action.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/14/2000
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LAKE PIRU
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91406
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 7
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 953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 110
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 PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 77
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 52
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
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) 10888
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 14 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1210
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 7:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N169CW
NTSB Number LAX00LA262
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 R-22 BETA
Aircraft Series Identifier R-22 BETA
Aircraft Serial Number 3002
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 Jul 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 720
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name COPTERWORKS WEST
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16425 HART STREET
Aircraft Owner City VAN NUYS
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91406
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name GROUP THREE AVIATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 16425 HART STREET
Operator City VAN NUYS
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 91406
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 KVNY
Departure City VAN NUYS
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 810
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2001 10:40AM
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 --