Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Jersey Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mount Holly, New Jersey 08060
Sunday, July 31, 2005 10:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to the helicopter instructional flight, the flight instructor and the student pilot discussed a loss of engine power during takeoff. The student pilot, who had not previously performed the maneuver, thought the flight instructor was going to demonstrate it. During the flight, while the helicopter was climbing through 400-500 feet, the flight instructor advised the student of the pending simulated engine failure, and "rolled down" the throttle. The helicopter commenced an autorotation, with the flight instructor thinking the student pilot was at the controls, and the student pilot thinking the flight instructor was at the controls. During the autorotation, when the helicopter appeared to be headed for some trees, "the collective was raised to extend the glide, but the rotor rpm was decreasing and the forward airspeed had slowed also." The helicopter cleared the trees, but at 60 feet above the ground, the rotor rpm was below the power off range. The flight instructor then "got on the controls, lowered the collective, rolled on the throttle, and flared the helicopter." The helicopter continued its descent, the tail hit the ground, and the helicopter impacted the ground in a level attitude, then rolled over.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's delayed remedial action. A factor was the flight instructor's failure to ensure that both pilots knew who was performing the maneuver.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mount Holly |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08060 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395634N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745044W |
| Event Location Airport | South Jersey Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VAY |
| 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 | 53 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VAY |
| 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 | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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 Docket Number (internal use) | 19359 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| 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 | Phildelphia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N399HF |
| NTSB Number | IAD05LA112 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0176 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Jul 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 8166 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Herlihy Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 68 Stacy Haines Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lumberton |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08048 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VAY |
| Departure City | Mount Holly |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 12 2006 4:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8 |
| Runway Length | 3911 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |