Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Queensway Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Long Beach, California 90802
Sunday, March 8, 2009 8:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter pilot said that he thought that the approach to the helipad seemed and felt normal, but in retrospect was flat. A witness thought that the approach was flat and fast. He indicated that the helicopter was in a nose-high attitude when the tail rotor hit the ground between rocks at the waterline and the edge of the pad. The pilot felt a jolt followed by a shutter. Because of the tail rotor damage, the helicopter yawed out of control to the left. It rotated 360 degrees as the pilot lowered the collective. Once completely on the ground, he pulled the fuel flow control lever out of the flight gate, pulled the emergency fuel shutoff control, and powered everything down while applying the main rotor brake.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudged speed and altitude, which resulted in an undershoot of the landing zone.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/8/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 850 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Long Beach |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90802 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181130W |
| Event Location Airport | Queensway Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | None |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 800 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 60 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25350 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Long Beach FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2009 6:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N234AH |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA148 |
| 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 | EUROCOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | AS350BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2489 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4600 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 18 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 8130 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Island Express Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Avalon |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90704 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Island Express Helicopters, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Avalon |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90704 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LGB |
| Departure City | Long Beach |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 843 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Long Beach |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2009 6:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 01 |
| Runway Length | 60 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |