Jeffco Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Broomfield, Colorado 80020
Tuesady, March 13, 2007 17:15 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the flight instructor, he was demonstrating a "full-down" autorotation into a 20-knot headwind. About 20 feet above the ground, the wind diminished and the rotor RPM decayed. The pilot flared the helicopter, but it impacted the taxiway at 40 knots and at a 1,000 feet per minute descent rate. The helicopter bounced and the main rotor blades struck the tail boom. A systems examination revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The instructor's failure to maintain aircraft control. A contributing factor was the windshear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/13/2007
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1715
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Broomfield
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80020
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 395432N
Event Location Longitude 1050702W
Event Location Airport JEFFCO
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BJC
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 5673
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID KDEN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5431
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21586
NTSB Notification Source FAA-Northwest Mountain Region
NTSB Notification Date Mar 17 2007 12:00AM
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 Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7681H
NTSB Number DEN07CA072
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 3852
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 Mar 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1006.8
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Higgins Leasing Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address 39E Burberry Cir
Aircraft Owner City The Woodlands
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77384
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Premier Helicopters
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 11855 Airport Way
Operator City Broomfield
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80021
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 BJC
Departure City Broomfield
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1615
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code BJC
Destination City Broomfield
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 30 2007 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
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 --