Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prescott, Arizona 86301
Saturday, June 28, 2003 15:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter impacted the ground and rolled over during a practice autorotation. The purpose of the flight was a check ride with a designated pilot examiner (DPE) for the pilot's private helicopter rating. After completing a series of maneuvers, an autorotation was initiated. According to the DPE, the entry and flare were uneventful, and the pilot applied power to recover; the engine rpm and rotor rpm needles were "in the green." The pilot then began to cushion the descent with collective. During this cushion, the low rotor rpm horn activated. The check pilot expected the pilot to lower the collective slightly and roll on additional throttle; instead, the pilot lowered the collective "almost all the way down" and rolled some throttle off. At this point the helicopter was very close to the ground. The check pilot told the pilot "I have the controls." The helicopter entered a right turn and the check pilot intended to "let the aircraft continue into a slow right turn and milk whatever power we had to fly out of it." At this time, the check pilot felt the right pedal move against his foot, and the helicopter settled to the ground at an angle. After bouncing once, it touched down on the left skid, and rolled over. After the accident, the check pilot asked the pilot if he had been rolling the throttle off as he was pulling the collective up during the cushion portion of the autorotation. The pilot reported in the past, he had been over speeding the engine so he would slightly reduce the throttle to compensate. The pilot applied left pedal when he was attempting to align the helicopter with a track. No mechanical discrepancies were noted with the helicopter prior to the accident. The density altitude was 8,393 feet mean sea level (msl).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate main rotor rpm, and, his improper use of the collective, throttle, and anti-torque controls during the attempted recovery. Factors in the accident were the pilot's failure to completely relinquish the controls, and the high density altitude environmental condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Prescott |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86301 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1121800W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPRC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 14064 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1647 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N332MD |
| NTSB Number | LAX03CA215 |
| 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 | 2991 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 25 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 3308.6 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Guidance Helicopters |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6565 Crystal Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Prescott |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86301 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KPRC |
| Departure City | Prescott |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 28 2003 5:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |