Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Collinsville, California 94520
Saturday, January 4, 2003 15:32 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was in normal cruise flight when it suddenly descended steeply into a shallow tidal marsh/swamp area. Two witnesses in a boat observed the helicopter flying about 500 feet above the terrain and water. One reported seeing it in normal straight and level flight while over the water. The witness described the engine sound as "tinny." The helicopter suddenly turned toward land, the engine sound became quiet, and it descended rapidly to the ground. The other witness reported that his attention was drawn to the helicopter when he heard a "pop" followed by a grinding noise. He noticed that the rotors were slowing down as the helicopter dropped while in a left-hand turn or rotation. Examination of the rotor blades revealed evidence of low rotor energy at impact. The engine was removed from the airframe, cleaned, and then installed on an instrumented test cell where it was test run for 50 minutes at various power levels according to a factory acceptance test protocol with no abnormalities detected. Continuity was established throughout the control system, the fuel delivery system, and the drive train to the main and tail rotors. On the day of the accident, the accident pilot's partner in the helicopter discussed an erratic fuel pressure issue with an aviation maintenance technician (AMT) at the FAA Approved Repair Station where the helicopter was parked and serviced. The discrepancy was not resolved at the time the pilot departed on the accident flight. There is no verified evidence that the pilot was aware of the discrepancy.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's failure to maintain main rotor rpm during the subsequent autorotation. A factor in the accident was the unsuitable nature of the terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/4/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1532 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Collinsville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94520 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380403N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1215001W |
| 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 | 1455 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18484 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 4 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1615 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98TH |
| NTSB Number | LAX03FA060 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S1760 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | Dec 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 26 |
| Airframe Hours | 663 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Joseph Remcho |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Piedmont |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94611 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CCR |
| Departure City | Concord |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CCR |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 28 2005 3:17PM |
| 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 | -- |