Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Port Allen Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hanapepe, Kauai, Hawaii 96716
Thursday, March 22, 2001 11:40 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a FAR Part 135 proficiency check ride in the helicopter, the check airman, who was an FAA inspector, gave the commercial pilot a stuck pedal situation after takeoff by blocking the left pedal slightly forward of the neutral position. Both pilots indicated the commercial pilot was unfamiliar with the maneuver, and the check airman talked the pilot through the process during the flight around the traffic pattern. The check airman told the pilot to bring the helicopter to a hover at a preselected spot, which the pilot did. The check airman then instructed the pilot to reduce power to effect a slight heading change and settle the helicopter onto the ground. The pilot reduced the engine power to idle "rapidly" and the helicopter yawed to the left. The pilot attempted an autorotational landing and flared too high resulting in a hard landing. During the hard landing, the right main landing gear failed, and the helicopter rolled onto its right side. The check airman and the pilot both reported the check airman did not brief the pilot of the maneuver prior to the flight, nor did he demonstrate the maneuver to the pilot. According to the helicopter manufacturer, stuck pedal emergency procedures are not provided in the emergency procedures section of the operating handbook, and the maneuver should be discussed first and demonstrated with neutral pedal settings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's misjudged flare during an autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the check airman's failure to demonstrate a stuck pedal maneuver prior to assigning the procedure to the pilot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/22/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1140 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Hanapepe, Kauai |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96716 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 215348N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1593611W |
| Event Location Airport | Port Allen |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAK |
| 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 | 24 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 59 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 153 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15181 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 22 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1459 |
| 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 | WP-HNL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N293G |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA127 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Agusta |
| Aircraft Model | A109A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7166 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5720 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 15 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 3947.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Niihau Helicopters Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 370 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Makaweli |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96769 |
| 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 | NUIA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Makaweli |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAK |
| Destination City | Hanapepe |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 26 2004 4:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |