Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Palm Bch, Florida 33408
Tuesady, January 8, 2008 16:23 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was transitioning along a beach at 500 feet and 80 knots. The certificated student pilot had just contacted an air traffic control tower when the engine appeared to lose power. The student pilot raised the collective, but the situation "worsened," and he noticed a slight yaw. The student pilot then lowered the collective, and turned the helicopter left, into the wind. He subsequently completed an autorotation into the surf. The student pilot noted that prior to the loss of engine power, he didn't notice any unusual vibrations or noises, but did notice a "significant loss of power which resulted in an immediate loss of altitude." He also noted that it felt like "the sinking and yawing one experiences when settling with power." A postflight examination of the helicopter revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Utilizing the ambient temperature and dew point, a carburetor icing probability chart produced by the National Research Council of Canada indicated a probability of "serious icing at glide power," while another chart in the FAA's Tips on Winter Flying pamphlet indicated that carburetor icing conditions bordered between "serious icing - glide power" and "light icing - glide or cruise power."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to carburetor icing. Contributing to the accident was unsuitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/8/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1623 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | North Palm Bch |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33408 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 264954N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800218W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| 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 | 1653 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25204 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 8 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2009 10:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Florida (Ft Lauderdale) |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N179SH |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA078 |
| 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 | 4193 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Dec 31 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 28 |
| Airframe Hours | 521 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Silver State Helicopters LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89030 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Silver State Helicopters LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2011 South Perimeter Road |
| Operator City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33309 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SUA |
| Departure City | Stuart |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1610 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FXE |
| Destination City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 22 2009 6:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |