Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spring, Texas 77379
Monday, December 8, 2003 14:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot initiated a practice straight-in autorotation on a southerly heading, "at 700 feet agl, and 70 knots." The fight instructor stated that the "approach angle and decent grew quite steep very quickly." As the "rotor rpm decayed to approximately 95% at an approximate altitude of 200 feet agl, the fight instructor initiated a go-around by rolling on the throttle, lifting the collective, and applying forward pressure on the cyclic while maintaining 60 knots as the helicopter continued to descend." The fight instructor initiated a "hard flare to stop the rate of decent, but the decent was slowed, not stopped." The fight instructor leveled the helicopter, and executed a run-on landing at approximately 30 knots. Subsequently, the helicopter landed hard on soft terrain, rolled over, and came to rest on its left side. The fight instructor further reported that the left skid "hooked on an obstruction" prior to rolling over. Examination of the accident site revealed there were no obstructions or obstacles near the main wreckage. A ground scar was found at the point of initial impact consistent with the length of the skid and was approximately once inch deep.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The CFI's delay in taking remedial action which resulted in a hard landing. An excessive descent rate was a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/8/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Spring |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77379 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300342N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0953310W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | DWH |
| 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 | 4800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| 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) | 15159 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 8 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1545 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N747LF |
| NTSB Number | FTW04CA039 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2961 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Houston Helicopters Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19931 Stuebner Airline Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Spring |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77379 |
| 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 | DWH |
| Departure City | Spring |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2004 1:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |