Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lancaster, California 93534
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 11:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter landed hard and rolled on its side during a practice autorotation. The CFI and pilot-undergoing-instruction (PUI) were practicing a 180-degree autorotation. The PUI rolled out onto final at 400 feet agl. The PUI said that about 70 feet agl he leveled the helicopter, rolled in throttle, and started his flare. About 50 feet agl, he leveled in the flare because the helicopter "did not feel like it was building energy" and was not as effective in the flare. The rotor rpm was at 100 percent. He noted that there seemed to be not enough engine power to recover. He leveled the aircraft to get out of the flare and raised the collective. The low rotor horn sounded shortly after. The helicopter landed hard, bounced, spun around, hit the ground again, and rolled over on its right side. The Los Angeles City Fire Department "flare autorotations" procedure states "At approximately 75 feet from the ground, you begin your flare by applying a smooth pressure on the cyclic, flaring the ship at the right altitude and leveling the ship from a flare require quick but smooth movement of the cyclic...You will lost some altitude coming out of the flare but the ship should be level by the time you reach 10 feet." An engine teardown was conducted, with no anomalies found. The fuel control and governor bench tested to specifications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudged autorotative flare and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action and inadequate supervision of the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lancaster |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93534 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2368 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4986 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17020 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 24 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1540 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N305FD |
| NTSB Number | LAX04TA248 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4541 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 20 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 69.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 1169.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Los Angeles City Fire Department |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 200 N. Main Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Los Angeles |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90012 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VNY |
| Departure City | Van Nuys |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WJF |
| Destination City | Lancaster |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2004 3:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |