Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Palm Beach, Florida 33412
Friday, April 27, 2007 11:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor stated that he and his student were on downwind at an altitude of 500 feet, preparing to land the helicopter. He further stated that as they performed prelanding checks, the student pilot within the space of a second removed the guard and pulled the mixture, causing the helicopter's engine to cease operating. The instructor said he immediately entered autorotation, and further stated that the wind was coming from the left, i.e. from the south, and there was no place to turn left due to trees and a road, so he turned right. He said he then saw some trees so he continued to turn right to an open grove, and then started "full down." The student was depressing the right pedal, and the instructor said he continued to maintain rpm as high as possible for the full down, pushed forward, and affected the landing. He said the helicopter landed and continued with its nose to the left due to the right pedal being depressed by the student, and it rolled slightly on its right skid, then collapsed, and came to rest on its belly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's inadvertent shutting off of the mixture control while performing the prelanding checks that resulted loss of engine power and a roll over during the subsequent forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Palm Beach |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33412 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 265043N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0803017W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an 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 | 1100 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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) | 21692 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Flight School Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 27 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 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7535Z |
| NTSB Number | MIA07CA079 |
| 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 | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R-22 Beta II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3477 |
| 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 | 2855 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Airman Helicopters |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 284 Imperial Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ft. Lauderdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33308 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Ocean Helicopters Inc., |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | West Palm Beach |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33412 |
| 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 | F45 |
| Departure City | West Palm Beach |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 905 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | F45 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2007 1:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |