Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Salt Lake City Municipal 2 Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Jordan, Utah 84084
Saturday, May 24, 2003 15:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor and private pilot who was receiving instruction were practicing landings when the instructor asked "what would be his reaction if the engine quit on [the] downwind [leg]." They entered an autorotation from an altitude of 5,200 feet msl (600 feet agl) and an airspeed of 75 knots. The student turned the helicopter into the wind but lost 15 knots and rotor rpm (96 percent). The instructor noticed the rpm drop and added power, but there was no increase in rpm. Altitude had dropped to 4,900 feet msl (300 feet agl), and the rate of descent was increasing. The instructor kept the collective control down and pulled back on the cyclic control to transfer speed into rotor rpm and altitude. Engine and rotor rpm needles "were married at 93% and 95%." He increased collective to reduce the rate of descent. The throttle was fully open. The low rotor rpm horn never shut off, and there was no audible increase in rpm. The instructor said that as they passed 50 feet agl, the rpm was so low that "the helicopter was close to stall." He leveled off, but the helicopter struck the ground and bounced several times, collapsing the skids. It rolled over on its left side, shearing off the main rotor and tail rotor blades. The fuselage skin was also wrinkled. Nothing was found that would have precluded the development of engine power. Based on an instructor interview,the FAA concluded that the flight instructor should have had the student make a straight ahead autorotation instead of a turning autorotation. The student allowed rpm to drop so that it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to recover.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of power for undetermined reasons. Also causal was the student's failure to maintain aircraft control and the instructor's inadequate supervision. The instructor's delayed remedial action as a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Jordan |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84084 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403710N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115934W |
| Event Location Airport | Salt Lake City Municipal 2 |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U42 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4603 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SLC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4227 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14239 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 24 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1605 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, UT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7176S |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA085 |
| 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 | 2971 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 2154 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Matthew Spitzer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alameda |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94542 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Benjamin J. Schenk |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | West Jordan |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84084 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | U42 |
| Departure City | West Jordan |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1505 |
| Departure Time Zone | TO |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | U42 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2003 12:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |