Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aeroflex-Andover Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Andover, New Jersey 07821
Wednesday, August 21, 2002 9:48 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot (SP) & flight instructor (FI) were practicing autorotations with a power recovery in a Schweitzer 269C-1. The helicopter struck the runway hard, collapsed the left skid and rolled over on its left side. The SP reported that the main rotor rpm was increasing and he tried to raise the collective. It did not move, and when it did move, it came all the way up, the main rotor blades stalled, and the helicopter hit hard. The FI said the SP raised the collective, and he immediately lowered it, added power, and was unable to prevent a hard landing. The FI reported that the engine responded to his inputs. A check of the flight controls found that the collective and main rotor swash plate operated free and easy, with no evidence of jamming or resistance. An engineering test pilot with Schweitzer reported a momentary pop-up of the collective to full up and back down in less than 1 second would not cause blade stall. Blade stall would require the collective to be held full up for 3 or more seconds. The FI reported that his hand was near the collective, but not on it. No loose items were found in the helicopter that could have restricted movement of the collective.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's delayed remedial action to correct the low rotor condition. A factor was the student pilot's improper use of the collective, which created the low rotor condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 948 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Andover |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07821 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410022N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0744422W |
| Event Location Airport | Aeroflex-Andover |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 12N |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 210 |
| Airport Elevation | 583 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 125 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 173 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1168 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14645 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Witness of Accident |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 21 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1040 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allentown, Pennsylvania |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6147L |
| NTSB Number | NYC02FA171 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 55 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Feb 27 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 2364 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LBR Air LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Rd, Ste 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Castle |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | CDW |
| Departure City | Fairfield |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 12N |
| Destination City | Andover |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 9 2003 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 1981 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |