Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Syracuse International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fenner, New York 13035
Tuesady, January 15, 2008 12:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the Robinson R44 II was on the final leg of a visual flight rules (VFR) flight when, about 18 miles from the destination airport, he obtained a special VFR clearance from the approach controller due to snow showers in the area. The clearance was later canceled by the controller due to "saturation," and the pilot was told not to enter the area, which was several miles ahead. The pilot then turned the helicopter around and entered a "near zero/zero whiteout," but during the "tight" turn the attitude indicator "tumbled." The pilot then elected to perform a precautionary landing to a plowed field below. As the helicopter contacted the ground, the skids sunk into the soft terrain, and the aft portion of the tailboom and the skids separated from the fuselage. The weather reported at the destination airport at the time of the accident included 1 1/2 statute miles visibility in light snow and mist.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's delayed decision to perform a precautionary landing. Contributing to the accident was the reduced visibility in snow and the soft terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/15/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Fenner |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13035 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425952N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0754713W |
| Event Location Airport | Syracuse International Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SYR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 18 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 421 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SYR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 421 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23235 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ALB FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 18 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albany FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N122AA |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA083 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11228 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 455 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Adkins Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cornelius |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28031 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | N66 |
| Departure City | Oneonta |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SYR |
| Destination City | Syracuse |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 15 2008 6:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| 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 | -- |