Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rochester Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rochester, Minnesota 55901
Tuesady, April 27, 2004 8:31 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during landing on runway 31. The pilot reported that he was conducting a straight-in approach. He recalled that the approach was smooth until he crossed the runway threshold, about 10 feet above ground level, at which point he "felt very slight buffeting." The pilot attributed this to wake turbulence from a business jet which had departed approximately two minutes before he reached the runway. He decided to abort the landing and applied forward cyclic to begin building some airspeed. He reported that "within two seconds the helicopter began to pitch and roll severely." His efforts to stabilized the aircraft were not successful. He decided to land in spite of the unstable condition because he was not sure that he would be able to maintain control. He reported that he lowered the collective and, just prior to contact with the ground, increased collective in an attempt to cushion the impact. The left skid contacted the ground and collapsed. The helicopter came to rest on its left side. A post-accident examination conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no indication of any pre-impact anomalies. The pilot reported that there were no failures or malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident. Winds at RST, recorded at 0754, were from 260 degrees at 5 knots. At 0854, winds were from 240 degrees at 6 knots. The pilot reported 28.3 hours total flight time and 3.0 hours of pilot-in-command (solo) flight time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during landing. Contributing factors were the aircraft's low altitude and the pilot's limited flight experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 831 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rochester |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55901 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435426N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0922956W |
| Event Location Airport | Rochester Muni |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RST |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 1317 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 854 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RST |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1317 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KRST 271354Z 24006KT 10SM CLR 04/M05 A3009 R |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15653 |
| 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 | N40725 |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA111 |
| 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 | 1830 |
| 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 | Feb 25 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 59.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 2465.1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Blue Skies Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2331 Pinestar Lane SE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rochester |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55904 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Gary Landgrebe |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 305 Iowa Street |
| Operator City | Racine |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55967 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVT |
| Departure City | Rochester |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 810 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RST |
| Destination City | Rochester |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 6 2004 5:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 7533 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |