Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kaaawa, Oahu, Hawaii 96730
Tuesady, October 29, 2002 9:30 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter rolled over during an attempted takeoff from a sloping landing zone on a ridgeline composed of soft soil. The pilot's mission was to transport passengers to the remote landing site on top of a ridge. Upon arrival, the pilot performed a reconnaissance of the area and landed on a part of the ridge that sloped to the right. The pilot reported that the wind was strong and gusty, but was most directly on the nose of the helicopter. The pilot said he maintained full flight rotor rpm and completely lowered the collective pitch, then the helicopter settled right skid downslope. He noted that the ground was soft. One of the passengers, who was seated directly behind the pilot, disembarked, which left two passengers on the right side of the helicopter. Then the pilot applied collective pitch, and the helicopter began to roll right. The pilot decreased the collective and applied left cyclic, but this had no effect. The helicopter rolled over and slid down the steep incline. A search and rescue pilot who landed at the landing zone a short time after the accident reported that the wind speed was about 25 knots, and it was gusting to 30 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Dynamic rollover during an attempted takeoff, due to the combined effects of the soft sloping terrain and the pilot's failure to redistribute the passengers to a more favorable lateral CG condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/29/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Kaaawa, Oahu |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96730 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 213104N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1575409W |
| 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 | 955 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HHI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 837 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16541 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 29 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1455 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Honolulu, HI |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N220AL |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1090606D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 28 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 7972 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Cherry Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 399 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kahuku |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96731 |
| 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 | CYHA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Kahuku |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Kaaawa, Oahu |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2004 4:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |