Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Valley City, Utah 84120
Thursday, January 8, 2009 20:52 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and the instructor reported that the flight began as an instrument flight rules (IFR) cross-country training flight. After encountering turbulence and head winds, they elected to terminate the IFR flight plan about 10 miles from their intended destination, reverse course, and return under night visual flight rules (VFR). The instructor stated that on the return trip, he was not instructing the pilot and was "just a passenger." During the return trip, they made an intermediate stop and refueled the helicopter. The weather conditions on departure from the refueling stop were winds light and variable, visibility 4 miles, and ceiling about 2,000 feet above ground level (6,321 feet mean sea level [msl]). About 15 minutes into the flight, the helicopter was at about 6,100 feet msl when it entered clouds and the pilot lost visual contact with the ground. The instructor reported that the pilot "became quickly disoriented losing positive control of the aircraft." The pilot reported that the helicopter entered the clouds and "began to rotate immediately." The flight instructor took the controls and attempted to regain control of the helicopter, but was unable to do so before the helicopter impacted the ground.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s inadvertent VFR flight into IMC conditions, which resulted in his spatial disorientation and loss of control of the helicopter. Also causal was the flight instructor’s delay in taking remedial action.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/8/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2052 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | West Valley City |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84120 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403751N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120324W |
| 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 | 2053 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SLC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4227 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26079 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 18 2009 4:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N168SH |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA076 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11658 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 24 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 29 |
| Airframe Hours | 445 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Majestic Helicopters LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8458 Crest Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Eagle Mountain |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84005 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Scott D. Robinson II |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Eagle Mountain |
| Operator State | UT |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TVY |
| Departure City | Tooele |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2037 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BTF |
| Destination City | Bountiful |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 18 2009 4:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |