Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Erie Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Erie, Colorado 80516
Tuesady, July 31, 2007 14:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the flight instructor, he and his private pilot student were conducting a "currency flight" and the instructor had just finished demonstrating a 180 degree autorotation. The student was performing a second 180 degree autorotation. The instructor stated that at 200 feet above ground level, the student brought power on; however, the rotor rpm was low. The instructor stated that the student brought the "collective up" and the rotor rpm continued to drop. The helicopter impacted the runway in a "high rate of descent", resulting in substantial damage. The instructor reported no anomalies with the helicopter or its systems. An examination of the helicopter's systems revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm resulting in a loss of aircraft control during a simulated 180 degree auto-rotation. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate flight status supervision by the flight instructor and the student pilot's inadequate recovery procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Erie |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80516 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400003N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050205W |
| Event Location Airport | Erie Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KEIK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5130 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1345 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBJC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5673 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| 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) | 22136 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 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 | Denver FAA Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7508Y |
| NTSB Number | DEN07CA131 |
| 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 Helicopter |
| Aircraft Model | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3757 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Matthew Spitzer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3809 Amyx Court |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hayward |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94542 |
| 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 | -- |
| Operator City | Broomfield |
| Operator State | CO |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KBJC |
| Departure City | Broomfield |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1205 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KBJC |
| 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 | Aug 10 2007 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |