Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cornudas, Texas 79837
Saturday, August 3, 2002 12:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 3,053-hour pilot reported that he was ferrying the helicopter to its new owner. The pilot stated that while in cruise flight, at 1,000 feet AGL, the helicopter's clutch light flickered then went out. Approximately one minute later, the clutch light flickered again and went out. The pilot elected to land the helicopter. The pilot entered an autorotation, slowed the aircraft to 65 knots, and made a 180-degree left turn. After the helicopter stopped its turn, and as it descended to approximately 200 feet AGL, the helicopter encountered a "high sink rate." As the helicopter descended through 150 feet AGL, the pilot rolled on throttle, rejoined the needles, and increased collective pitch. The aircraft continued to descend abnormally, and the pilot stated the airspeed was 60 knots. The pilot further increased collective, and by 50 feet AGL, the helicopter began to "shudder." The pilot began to flare the aircraft, and it touched down "hard," bounced, and touched down again. The left landing skid folded out and up, and the helicopter slid approximately 30 to 40 feet before coming to rest on its right side. Examination of the clutch assembly, actuator assembly, and Vee belts revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain rotor RPM and his improper landing flare. A contributing factor was the activation of a warning light.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cornudas |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79837 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 314724N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1054242W |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15477 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1725 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N681MP |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA227 |
| 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 | 3345 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 28 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Prestige Helicopters, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2001 Flightway Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chambler |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30341 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELP |
| Departure City | El Paso |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MAF |
| Destination City | Midland |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2004 4:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |