Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lantana, Florida 33462
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 16:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter landed hard and rolled over after the certified flight instructor (CFI) attempted to recover from a simulated autorotative descent. According to the CFI, as he attempted to level off at 75 to 100 feet above the ground, the helicopter yawed sharply to the left along with a loss of main rotor rpm, and despite his efforts to recover, the helicopter touched down left skid low. The engine was later placed in a test cell and when started operated to approximately 2,550 rpm instead of 2,700 rpm. The No. 3 cylinder was noted to only have 5 psi during the differential compression test. Further examination of the No. 3 cylinder by the cylinder manufacturer revealed discolorations which are typical of high temperature operations; wear on the exhaust valve seating face and exhaust valve guide was noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot-in-command to maintain recommended main rotor RPM following a reported total loss of engine power due to undetermined reasons, during a practice autorotation resulting in a hard landing and subsequent roll over.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lantana |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33462 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263535N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800506W |
| Event Location Airport | PALM BEACH COUNTY PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNA |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1616 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17788 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 28 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1712 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N516PB |
| NTSB Number | MIA04LA113 |
| 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 | R 22 Mariner |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2315M |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign 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 | Jul 2 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 |
| Airframe Hours | 2382.6 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sky Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4586 Ellwood Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Delray Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33482 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Palm Beach Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2615 Lantana Road, Suite A |
| Operator City | Lantana |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33462 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KLNA |
| Departure City | Lantana |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1534 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KLNA |
| Destination City | Lantana |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 11 2005 2:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |