Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Canyon Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Canyon Lake, Texas 78133
Saturday, July 5, 2008 16:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot was conducting a photo flight with himself and two passengers in the four seat helicopter. The helicopter had been in a zero airspeed out of ground effect hover at approximately 40 to 50 feet above the ground for about 15 seconds when the pilot applied power to begin a vertical climb. According to the pilot, he then suddenly and without warning lost directional control, the helicopter began to spin nose right, and his application of full left pedal had no effect. The pilot initiated an autorotation and the helicopter landed hard on rough rocky sloping terrain between several trees. The crash caused substantial damage to the fuselage and airframe when the left skid gear partially collapsed and penetrated into the left rear passenger cabin floor area. The upper pylon was noticeably bent and wrinkled, and both main rotor blades were damaged. An on-scene investigation by an FAA maintenance inspector confirmed continuity and no apparent damage to the flight controls. There was no post-crash fire and the pilot and front seat passenger reported no injuries, but the left rear seat passenger suffered minor injuries and had to be carried out of the aircraft. The pilot reported the surface winds were light and variable, visibility 10 statute miles with scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, a temperature of 88 degrees, and an altimeter setting of 30.01 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of tail rotor effectiveness. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper decision to operate inside the height velocity curve.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/5/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Canyon Lake |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78133 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 295501N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0981820W |
| 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 | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 940 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24062 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ASW Regional Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 5 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N804DF |
| NTSB Number | DFW08CA177 |
| 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 | 11265 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 421 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Royal Aeronautical Services USA LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1740H Dell Range Blvd # 281 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cheyenne |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82009 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Helicopter Tours of Texas |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1176 FM 306 |
| Operator City | New Braunfels |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78130 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Gruene |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1546 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Hover - out of ground effect |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 6 2008 10:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | GAMW |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |