Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Culberson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Horn, Texas 79855
Saturday, April 21, 2007 10:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor of N971SH reported that after the flight instructor of N991RW had repositioned his helicopter close to the refueling station, he attempted to set his helicopter down in close proximity to N991RW to allow another group of helicopters closer access to the refueling station. After setting down and lowering the collective, the instructor of N971SH felt a "repeated thump" in the controls, prompting him to raise collective and move away from N991RW. The instructor of N991RW reported that after setting down and about one minute into the cool down period, he felt a "jerk" in the controls. A subsequent inspection of both aircraft revealed damage to both of the tops of the blades of N991RW and to at least one of the blades of N971SH."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Clearance was not maintained after landing by the pilot of the other aircraft, which resulted in an on ground collision with the helicopter standing near the refueling pumps. The aircraft standing in the refueling area was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/21/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Van Horn |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79855 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 310328N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044702W |
| Event Location Airport | Culberson County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VHN |
| 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 | 3957 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3916 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 83 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| 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) | 29.85 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22098 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 21 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N971SH | N991RW |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA111A | SEA07LA111B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3986 | 3451 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2007 12:00AM | Apr 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1290.9 | 3397.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 2 ROMEO WHISKEY LLC | Running Water LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas | North Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89157 | 89157 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Silver State Helicopters | Silver State Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | Las Vegas | North Las Vegas |
| Operator State | NV | NV |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89032 | 89032 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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 | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELP | ELP |
| Departure City | El Paso | El Paso |
| Departure State | TX | TX |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | VHN | VHN |
| Destination City | Van Horn | Van Horn |
| Destination State | TX | TX |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - engine(s) operating | Standing - engine(s) operating |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2007 1:25PM | Jul 30 2007 1:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA | NA |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |