Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carnation, Washington 98065
Monday, September 9, 2002 17:40 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private pilot stated that he was practicing power recovery autorotations to an open field. He said that during the second practice autorotation, he inadvertently delayed adding power during the flare, and the helicopter touched down in a nose-high attitude. During the hard landing, the main rotor blades contacted the helicopter's tail boom resulting in substantial damage

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's delayed power application during a practice power recovery autorotation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/9/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1740
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Carnation
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98065
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 473800N
Event Location Longitude 1215500W
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID KRTN
Elevation of weather observation facility 32
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
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) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 210
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 3
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) 1126
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12640
NTSB Notification Source FAA-REGIONAL OPERATIONS
NTSB Notification Date Sep 9 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1815
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 16 2003 4:27PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle, Washington

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9263F
NTSB Number SEA02LA172
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 Hughes
Aircraft Model 500
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 450736
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 2 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 40
Airframe Hours 2785
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Conner Homes Company
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Bellevue
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98004
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Charles F. Conner
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Issaquah
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98027
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 92WA
Departure City Issaquah
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1640
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 23 2002 7:24PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
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 --