Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Shakopee, Minnesota 55372
Saturday, April 24, 2004 10:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter was substantially damaged during an in-flight collision with terrain. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and dual student were practicing normal approaches when the accident occurred. The CFI stated that the third approach was made to an open field and was terminated in a hover about five feet above ground level. The helicopter began yawing to the right and when the dual student did not correct for the rotation, he applied left pedal to stop the yaw. The CFI reported that as he applied the left pedal control input, the dual student stated "You have it," and simultaneously made a "strong" right cyclic input. He stated that as he attempted to recover, the dual student "abruptly" raised the collective without increasing the throttle, causing the rotor speed to decay. The CFI reported that the helicopter climbed and then began to settle toward the ground in a "right drift." He stated: "I was unable to recover the [rotor speed] or align the skids with the ground track before the right skid hit the ground. The skid dug in causing the helicopter to roll over on its right side." The CFI and dual student both reported that there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the helicopter. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector verified control continuity during a post-accident examination. No anomalies consistent with a pre-impact failure were observed. The CFI reported a total flight time of 247 hours, with 63 hours in a Robinson R22 Beta. He reported instructor flight time as 5.6 hours total and 0.4 hours in the R22.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The dual student's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during hovering flight and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action in order to prevent a loss of control. Contributing factors were the flight instructor's lack of dual instruction experience and the low altitude hover.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/24/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1050
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Shakopee
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 55372
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 444319N
Event Location Longitude 0933305W
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 7
Degrees magnetic from airport 225
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID FCM
Elevation of weather observation facility 906
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.21
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KFCM 241553Z 10011KT 10SM BKN200 11/M01 A302
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15652
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 24 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1436
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 30 2004 12:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-Minneapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N819TT
NTSB Number CHI04CA110
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 2161
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 27 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 47
Airframe Hours 2352.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name IGEL Properties, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6550 York Avenue South -- Suite 412
Aircraft Owner City Minneapolis
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55435
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Hummingbird Helicopters, LLC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 13601 Pioneer Trail
Operator City Eden Praire
Operator State MN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 55347
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 No
Departure Airport Code FCM
Departure City Minneapolis
Departure State MN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1015
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Hover
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 4 2004 3:27PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --