Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palo Alto Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palo Alto, California 95148
Wednesday, February 2, 2000 14:37 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and passenger were inbound to land and the pilot requested permission to perform an autorotation, which was approved. The pilot reported that he did not think he was going to reach the runway during the autorotation so he added power. The engine failed to respond and the tail stinger contacted the ground resulting in the separation of the tail boom. The pilot pulled collective pitch; the helicopter briefly became airborne, and spun violently to the right. The pilot maintained a level attitude and the helicopter landed hard. After the rotor stopped, they exited the helicopter. The pilot stated that he should have used carburetor heat prior to the extended engine idle period of the autorotation. The temperature and dew point were in the serious icing-glide power range.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to use carburetor heat, resulting in a loss of engine power, and, his misjudged autorotation approach that resulted in a collision with the ground during the landing flare. Contributing to the accident was the conditions conducive to carburetor icing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/2/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1437 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | PALO ALTO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95148 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | PALO ALTO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAO |
| 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 | 5 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1437 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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) | 789 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 2 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1520 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N999EV |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA086 |
| 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 | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R44 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0667 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 94 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GARY M. LAMPERT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1690 MCLEAN BLVD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | EUGENE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97405 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GARY LAMPERT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 231 STOCKBRIDGE AVE |
| Operator City | ATHERTON |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94027 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SQL |
| Departure City | SAN CARLOS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1427 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAO |
| Destination City | PALO ALTO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 65 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |