Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hayward Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hayward, California 94540
Monday, July 2, 2001 14:26 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter impacted the ground, bounced, and impacted the ground a second time during a practice autorotation. The commercial/student pilot was practicing a 180-degree autorotation with a power recovery when an excessive rate of descent developed. The flight instructor said he "joined" the student on the controls and initiated a progressive rollout of the turn while simultaneously applying aft cyclic, raising the collective, and applying more power for a power recovery to level flight. The instructor said that the engine did not respond to the throttle input. Due to the rate of descent, the flight instructor elected not to attempt an "aggressive" flare "fearing a tail rotor ground strike." He continued with aft cyclic input and collective manipulation to reduce forward airspeed and rate of descent for a run-on landing. The helicopter contacted the ground in a "near skids level attitude" approximately 30 knots, with the rotor rpm in the "high end of the green region." The helicopter became airborne approximately 8-10 feet above the ground. The flight instructor indicated that the throttle was still unresponsive. He raised the collective to cushion the second impact and the low rotor rpm warning light and horn came on prior to set down. The helicopter impacted the ground again approximately 20 knots, collapsing the left skid. The helicopter then rolled to the left and came to rest on its left side facing approximately 180 degrees from the approach heading. A post-accident examination of the helicopter revealed no anomalies, with the exception of a failed left seat restraining system. An engine test run was conducted and no anomalies were noted that would have affected its operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the student's excessive rate of descent during a practice autorotation, and, the inadequate use of the rotorcraft flight controls by both pilots during the attempted recovery, which resulted in a hard landing. The flight instructor's inadequate supervision during the maneuver was also causal.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1426 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hayward |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94540 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 373934N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1231054W |
| Event Location Airport | Hayward Executive |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HWD |
| 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 | 47 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1430 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHWD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13494 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1505 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2003 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-OAK |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4052K |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA232 |
| 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 | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1766 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 16 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 7982 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mathew Spitzer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hayward |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94542 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | Oakland International Airport |
| Operator City | Oakland |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94614 |
| Operator Code | HZ8V |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OAK |
| Departure City | Oakland |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HWD |
| Destination City | Hayward |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 11 2003 5:49PM |
| 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 | -- |