Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watsonville, California 95076
Friday, August 18, 2000 17:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor was cruising or maneuvering the helicopter during an introductory flight with a new student. Witnesses in the area reported observing the helicopter in what appeared to be normal flight, heard a loud bang, and then saw the helicopter abruptly pitch nose down while the main rotor blades separated from the helicopter. One of the witnesses observed the helicopter turn and climb moments before the accident sequence initiated; two of the witnesses reported that just prior to the accident the helicopter was flying in level cruise flight. At the time of the accident, the sky was clear, the visibility was at least 10 miles, a light breeze existed, and no other aircraft were flying in the immediate area. The on-scene examination of the accident site revealed Plexiglas fragments and left door components about 400 feet from where the main wreckage fell into an open dirt field. Additional items, including sunglasses, a left skid tube-mounted component and the main rotor blade assembly, were found 140 to 330 feet from the main wreckage. An examination of the rotor hub revealed the teetering stops were cracked and both of the rotor blade spindles had broken their respective (droop stop) tusks. The physical evidence indicates the main rotor diverged from its normal plane of rotation, resulting in mast bumping, main rotor blade contact with the fuselage, and separation of the main rotor assembly. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction was found with the helicopter. The initiating event that produced the main rotor divergence could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The divergence of the main rotor from its normal plane of rotation for an undetermined reason, which resulted in mast bumping and rotor contact with the fuselage.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1755 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | WATSONVILLE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95076 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365344N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214739W |
| 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) | 348 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WVI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 160 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15176 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 18 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1816 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8313Z |
| NTSB Number | LAX00FA306 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2456 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 10 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2100 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KENT K. REINHARD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | APTOS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95003 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | WVI |
| Departure City | WATSONVILLE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | WVI |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 17 2004 3:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |