Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Las Vegas, Nevada 89032
Friday, February 29, 2008 9:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated flight instructor (CFI) and student were practicing pinnacle approaches. During the last 50 feet of the approach, the main rotor rpm began to decay as the student was raising the collective. The CFI advised the student to roll on some throttle, and also reached for the throttle. The student continued to increase the collective, and the main rotor rpm decayed further. The instructor took full control of the helicopter and completed a steep slope landing. After the helicopter was on the ground, the instructor found that half of the collective was pulled in as well as full right cyclic in order to keep the helicopter stable on the slope. The CFI lifted the helicopter from the slope, and started to go into a hover, slowly letting the helicopter drift to the left away from the slope. The helicopter started to settle, and the instructor could not lower collective to roll the throttle on to gain power. The helicopter was continuing a drift to the left when the tail stinger and tail rotor contacted something on the slope. The helicopter began an immediate and rapid right yaw. The CFI rolled the throttle off to arrest the rotation, and the helicopter stopped spinning. The helicopter landed softly, but rolled over due to the steepness of the slope. The pilot reported no prior mechanical malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The certificated flight instructor's delayed remedial action, and inadequate supervision while landing on a pinnacle. Factors contributing to the accident were the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing, and the student's failure to maintain rotor rpm.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/29/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 935 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Las Vegas |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89032 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361519N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1152651W |
| 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 | 900 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23586 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 29 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA FSDO Las Vegas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N958CP |
| NTSB Number | LAX08CA069 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1710 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 5230 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LJ Air Incorporated |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89145 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Airwork LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Las Vegas |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89145 |
| 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 | VGT |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 12:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |