Salt Lake #2 Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Taylorsville, Utah 84084
Monday, March 19, 2007 17:45 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The certified flight instructor was providing instruction to the private pilot, who was training for a commercial rating. While practicing a 180-degree autorotation, a downdraft was encountered approximately 200 feet above ground level (agl), and the helicopter made a hard landing. The flight instructor stated, "I said that I had [the] controls and proceeded to bring back the power at about 150 feet agl. Everything was good; rotor and engine rpm were in the green. I pulled collective up as I've done in previous situations, but this time it was different. I pulled collective, but it was almost as if the helicopter couldn't fly out of it." No anomalies were reported with the helicopter.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight instructor's failure to maintain aircraft control during the flare/touchdown while practicing an autorotation which resulted in a hard landing. A factor which contributed to the accident was the downdraft wind condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/19/2007
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1745
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Taylorsville
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84084
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 403710N
Event Location Longitude 1115934W
Event Location Airport Salt Lake #2
Event Location Nearest Airport ID U42
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 1725 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID U42
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 21658
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2007 1:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N74347
NTSB Number SEA07CA080
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Robinson
Aircraft Model R22 Beta 2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3759
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jonathan Heaton
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Suncrest Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Spanish Fork
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code U77
Departure City Spanish Fork
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code U77
Destination City Spanish Fork
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 27 2007 8:38PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 5860
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --