Oakland Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oakland, California 94605
Tuesady, July 11, 1989 13:25 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE CERTIFICATED PRIVATE PILOT ELECTED TO CONDUCT A PRACTICE AUTOROTATION WITH TURN AND RECOVER WITH POWER. THE PILOT WAS FLYING WITH A PASSENGER. THE PILOT ALLOWED THE ROTOR RPM TO BLEED OFF AND WAS UNABLE TO RECOVER THE RPM BEFORE TOUCHDOWN. THE HELICOPTER LANDED HARD COLLAPSING THE SKID TYPE LANDING GEAR SYSTEM. THE MAIN ROTOR THEN CONTACTED THE TAILBOOM. THE HELICOPTER SLID ABOUT 100 FEET AFTER TOUCHDOWN AND ROTATED 90 DEGREES TO THE LEFT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO PROPERLY MAINTAIN ROTOR RPM THROUGHOUT THE AUTOROTATION.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/11/1989
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1325
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City OAKLAND
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94605
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport OAKLAND INT'L
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OAK
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 2265
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 11 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42165
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:52PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N288
NTSB Number LAX89FA238
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 ENSTROM
Aircraft Model F28F
Aircraft Series Identifier F28F
Aircraft Serial Number 742
Certified Max Gross Weight 2600
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 Jun 15 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 63
Airframe Hours 3304
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name OAKLAND POLICE DEPT.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 455 SEVENTH STREET
Aircraft Owner City OAKLAND
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94607
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) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code OAK
Departure City OAKLAND
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1212
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 Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
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 --