Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Zamperini Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Torrance, California 90505
Thursday, November 6, 2003 15:28 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A Robinson R22 Beta II and a Robinson R44 collided in midair while in the traffic pattern. The R22 pilot did not broadcast that he was a student pilot, and the controller did not think that the R22 pilot was a student pilot based on the quality of his radio transmissions. The R22 pilot had been practicing at a helipad north of runway 29R, and was returning to his parking area on the ramp south of runway 29L. The R44 pilot was departing from runway 29L on a touch-and-go. The R22 was above the R44, and descending to the southwest while the R44 was climbing straight ahead on runway 29L at the time of the collision. A tower controller instructed the R22 pilot to hold when he requested to go from the helipad to parking. After traffic passed, the controller advised him that he could proceed in right traffic flying a downwind traffic pattern for runway 29R to the helipad. The R22 pilot requested takeoff to land at his parking area. The controller instructed him to fly westbound. A few seconds later, the controller cleared the R44 pilot for the touch-and-go option on runway 29L, and in the same transmission cleared the R22 pilot to make a right turn to the downwind on runway 29R. About 45 seconds later, the controller informed the R22 pilot that he could expect a clearance to cross midfield when the controller got a chance. About 20 seconds later, the controller instructed the R22 pilot to turn right. About 30 seconds after that, he cleared the R22 pilot to land on runway 29R; the R22 pilot acknowledged about 5 seconds later with his call sign. The controller immediately transmitted for him to turn right, and cleared him to land on runway 29R. There was no further communication from the R22 pilot. The R22 was still in a position to turn and land on runway 29R. It began a right turn, but then instead of landing on the runway, it crossed 29R and continued descending toward 29L at a continuously reducing angle. The controller had looked away to work other traffic. As he turned to inform the R44 of the R22 landing on the parallel runway, he observed the collision. Reconstruction of the collision geometry placed the R22 above and slightly forward of the R44, and on a similar track. Based on a visibility study, once the R22 pilot turned toward his pad while he was north of runway 29R, he was not in a position to see the R44. During the takeoff, the R44 pilot was not in a position to see the R22 prior to impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the student pilot in the R22's failure to comply with an ATC clearance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/6/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1528 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Torrance |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90505 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334827N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182088W |
| Event Location Airport | ZAMPERINI FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TOA |
| 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 | 103 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1450 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTOA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 103 |
| 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 | 25000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21536 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 6 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1548 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LGB-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N206TV | N442RH |
| NTSB Number | LAX04FA037A | LAX04FA037B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta II | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2753 | 0002 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 2974 | 1046 |
| ELT Installed | No | No |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Timothy W. Tompkins | Robinson Helicopter Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | 2901 Airport Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bellflower | Torrance |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90706 | 90505 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Pacific Coast Helicopters | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3481 Airport Dr, Ste 400 | -- |
| Operator City | Torrance | -- |
| Operator State | CA | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 90505 | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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 | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TOA | TOA |
| Departure City | Torrance | Torrance |
| Departure State | CA | CA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1442 | 1449 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Destination City | -- | -- |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | -- | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2007 4:45PM | Apr 30 2007 4:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29L | 29L |
| Runway Length | 3000 | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |