Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Olalla, Washington 98359
Sunday, August 17, 2008 14:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot, who had not flown his helicopter for about one year, took off and flew about seven to ten minutes to the location of his personal residence. Once at that location, he flew around the local area while waiting for the person who drove him to the airport to return to the newly constructed helipad at the residence before he made his first landing there. After about ten minutes of maneuvering around the area, the helicopter experienced a complete loss of engine power, and the pilot attempted an autorotation to the backyard of a residence about one-half mile from his own. During the last part of the attempted forced landing, the helicopter collided with a tree and a wood fence. The investigation did not reveal any anomalies or malfunctions that would have prevented the engine from operating normally, and the engine underwent a successful post-accident dynamometer test run. The investigation revealed that the flight took place during ambient conditions that would be expected to produce carburetor icing, and under which the pilot would need to constantly monitor the carburetor temperature gauge and make adjustments to the carburetor heat. The pilot had a history of seasonal allergies, and toxicology test results were consistent with the recent use of diphenhydramine, a sedating and impairing over-the-counter antihistamine often known by the trade name of Benadryl. The extent to which impairment from the medication may have played a role in the accident could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The complete loss of engine power due to the accumulation of ice in the carburetor as a result of the pilot's failure to use carburetor heat.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1455 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Olalla |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98359 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 472555N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223253W |
| 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 | 1455 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPWT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 444 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25665 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 17 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2009 1:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N301MA |
| NTSB Number | SEA08FA185 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3056 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 22 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 266 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AADLAND RANDY S |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | KIRKLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98034-1420 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Myron L. Aadland |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Olalla |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98359 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KPWT |
| Departure City | Bremerton |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Olalla |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2009 8:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |