Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lake Wales Municiple Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Wales, Florida 33859
Thursday, May 15, 2008 16:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated flight instructor (CFI) attempted a practice autorotation to a power recovery over a runway. During the recovery attempt, the helicopter hit the runway in a level attitude, bounced, touched down again, and rolled over. Winds at the time were variable at 5 knots. No preimpact mechanical anomalies were noted by ether the pilots, or by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the helicopter after the accident. The CFI reported 6,766 hours of flight experience as pilot in command, which included about 300 hours in the accident helicopter make and model.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper recovery from a practice autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lake Wales |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33859 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 275359N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812719W |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Wales Municiple Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X07 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 125 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1650 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 292 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BOW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25248 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Polk County Sheriff Dept |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 15 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 23 2009 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911GJ |
| NTSB Number | NYC08TA183 |
| 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 | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11054 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 817 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Polk County Sheriff's Office |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 455 N Broadway Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bartow |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33830 |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BOW |
| Departure City | Bartow |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | X07 |
| Destination City | Lake Wales |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2009 10:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 06 |
| Runway Length | 3999 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |