Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Las Vegas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Las Vegas, Nevada 89032
Sunday, September 5, 2004 8:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter hit the ground hard during a practice autorotation and rolled over. The accident occurred during the 7th approach to the runway. An on-duty air traffic controller observed the helicopter perform what he described as a very steep approach to the runway. The helicopter's descent rate did not appear to significantly decrease, whereupon it impacted the ground and rolled over. The instructor said that after the student improperly initiated the autorotation, he told his student that he had the controls. The student let go of the controls, and the instructor commenced the 180-degree turn toward the runway. The instructor said he intended to complete the maneuver by performing a power recovery and a go-around. The instructor said that as he rolled out of the turn and attempted the power recovery, he realized that he had accumulated a huge descent rate that did not seem to stabilize after leveling out at approximately 15 feet above ground level (agl). The helicopter was still descending very fast when he pulled aft cyclic and attempted to roll the throttle on and raise the collective, but before he could complete the flare, the helicopter hit the ground, slid for approximately 200 to 300 feet, and rolled over.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The certified flight instructor's misjudged flare and delayed recovery from the practice autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/5/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 820 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | North Las Vegas |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89032 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361245N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1151146w |
| Event Location Airport | North Las Vegas |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VGT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2205 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 825 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2205 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19366 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 5 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 837 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Las Vegas, Nevada |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N994RW |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA314 |
| 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 | 3583 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 350 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 4 Romeo Whiskey LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 27285 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89126 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Silver State Helicopter |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2722 Perimeter Road, Suite 207 |
| Operator City | North Las Vegas |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89032 |
| Operator Code | SVFA |
| 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 | VGT |
| Departure City | North Las Vegas |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 803 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VGT |
| Destination City | North Las Vegas |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 5 2006 4:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12L |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |