Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tucson International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucson, Arizona 85706
Monday, October 3, 2005 7:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter touched down hard and rolled over following a practice 180-degree autorotation. The instructor pilot reported that he was having his student practice a number of autorotations for an upcoming check ride. During the last autorotation, the student rolled out of the turn; the helicopter slowed to 60 knots, and the low rotor rpm warning horn sounded and the caution light illuminated. The instructor called for a go-around about 80 feet above the ground, but the rotor rpm did not increase. He took control of the helicopter from the student and applied collective and forward cyclic to touchdown in a level pitch attitude. The helicopter impacted the ground and began sliding to the side. The right skid dug into the soft ground and the helicopter rolled over three times before coming to rest on its left side. The instructor and student reported no anomalies with the 218-hour helicopter prior to the event. The flight school that employed the instructor had a policy, which dictated that instructors were to perform practice autorotations at a controlled airport equipped with emergency response equipment; however, if they did not, they were supposed to recover from autorotations 500 feet above the ground.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the student pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and rotor rpm during a practice autorotation, and the instructor's failure to adequately monitor the maneuver, which resulted in a hard landing and roll over.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 745 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Tucson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85706 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 322434N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1111306W |
| Event Location Airport | Tucson International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TUS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 19236 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2006 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N926SH |
| NTSB Number | LAX06CA001 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson Helicopter Company |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3879 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 218 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Silver State Helicopters |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 500 E. Cheyenne |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89030 |
| 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 | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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 | TUS |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2005 6:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |