Long Beach Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Long Beach, California 90806
Tuesady, October 3, 2000 10:41 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a dual instructional flight lesson, the flight instructor directed his student to perform a practice autorotation. Both he and his student were handling the flight controls. The CFI directed that the student enter the autorotation while hovering between 2 and 3 feet above the dirt field. The student responded by rapidly lowering the collective, and the helicopter descended. Before the CFI could regain control, the helicopter's left skid touched down in the dirt and "dug in." Thereafter, the main rotor blades impacted the ground, and the helicopter rolled over onto its side. During the 5-minute period that preceded the accident, the student had accomplished the training maneuver without demonstrating any unusual problems. During the preceding 90-day period, the CFI gave 180 hours of instruction to various students in the Robinson helicopter. His total dual instruction experience in the Robinson was 1,800 hours.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The dual student's improper use of the collective and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision during the practice hovering autorotation maneuver. A factor was the underlying soft dirt terrain, which promoted the rollover event.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/3/2000
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1041
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LONG BEACH
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90806
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport LONG BEACH
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LGB
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 58
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1041 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID LGB
Elevation of weather observation facility 58
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1200
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 66
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 61
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11256
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 3 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2002 7:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8340N
NTSB Number LAX01LA002
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 R22 BETA
Aircraft Series Identifier R22 BETA
Aircraft Serial Number 2639
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 Sep 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 58
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AEROTECH SPECIALISTS, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2730 AIRPORT DR., STE. 102
Aircraft Owner City NORTH LAS VEGAS
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89032
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name HELISTREAM, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3000 AIRWAY AVE., SUITE 350
Operator City COSTA MESA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 92626
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 SNA
Departure City SANTA ANA
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 950
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code LGB
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Hover
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 1 2001 4:45AM
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 --