Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boqueron Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Las Piedras, Puerto Rico 00771
Tuesady, May 29, 2007 8:15 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he took off from his home airstrip, and during the initial climb at 350 feet and 55 mph, the engine quit. At the time there were power lines in front of him so he opted to make a left 90-degree auto rotation. The helicopter was landed hard causing damage to the tail boom of the helicopter. The passenger stated that about 40 seconds after takeoff, he heard a "pop pop" noise. The aircraft started a fast descent and impacted the ground. His injuries include a burst L1 vertebra. Examination of the helicopter was performed by an FAA airworthiness inspector, which revealed the engine was turned by hand without binding. The aircraft's spark plugs were in good condition and the fuel filter was clean and non-obstructed; fuel was noted in the filter. The flight controls were found to be free and moving. No anomalies with the aircraft or engine were reported by the FAA inspector. Inspection of the aircraft's logbooks revealed that the last annual inspection was performed on June 01,1997.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the non-certificated pilot to maintain a proper rate of descent during the autorotative landing following a reported loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, resulting in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/29/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Las Piedras |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00771 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 181206N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0655020W |
| Event Location Airport | Boqueron |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PR07 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 373 |
| 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 | TJNR |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21878 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 30 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-11C |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N63HD |
| NTSB Number | MIA07CA103 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 269A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 67-16906 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 65 |
| Airframe Hours | 98 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thunderbird Helicopters FLA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1710 Calumet ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | Clearwater |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33765 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PR07 |
| Departure City | LAS PIEDRAS |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 814 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PR07 |
| Destination City | Las Piedras |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2007 10:29AM |
| 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 | -- |