Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Phoenix, Arizona 85339
Monday, February 25, 2002 14:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The experimental helicopter made a hard landing following a practice autorotation and loss of engine power. During the third practice autorotation, the student informed the instructor that he was unable to reintroduce power during the autorotation recovery. The instructor took control of the helicopter and attempted to roll the throttle up; however, he found it would not rotate any further. The instructor raised the collective at 10 feet agl in an attempt to cushion the landing. The helicopter hit the ground hard, the left skid collapsed, and the helicopter rolled onto its left side. Examination of the helicopter revealed the mechanical stop for the throttle was bent causing a condition in which the engine would stay at ground idle once the throttle was rolled past over center near the ground idle position. Once the linkage was driven over center, the linkage could not be moved by the throttle control A post accident run of the engine revealed no additional anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student's inadvertent over control of the throttle mechanism, which resulted in the bending of the throttle mechanical stop and binding the linkage in the idle position. Also causal was the CFI's inadequate supervision. A factor in the accident was the CFI's inability to add engine power due to the bent throttle mechanism during a practice autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/25/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Phoenix |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85339 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331636N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120705W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 1177 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1135 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3105 |
| 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) | 16315 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 25 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1840 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | SCOTTSDALE, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9876D |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA096 |
| 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 | Rotorway |
| Aircraft Model | Rotorway Exec 90 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | R15160 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Feb 22 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 108 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Cobb International Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4140 W. Mercury Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chandler |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85226 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | P19 |
| Departure City | Chandler |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1410 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | P19 |
| Destination City | Chandler |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2004 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |