Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Midland, Texas 79705
Tuesady, March 10, 2009 13:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A local rancher contacted the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) and said there was a 2-year-old wrecked helicopter on his property, and he wanted permission to dispose of it. Unaware of such an accident, an FAA inspector went to the site and confirmed that an accident had occurred but had never been reported. He said that it appeared the helicopter had either been taking off or landing between two buildings when the main rotor blades struck a post. The uninjured pilot reportedly extricated himself and walked away. An examination of the helicopter revealed severed main rotor blades and a fractured and buckled transmission mast. The tail boom was severed just forward of the tail rotor, and separated at the engine cowling. The pilot's name does not appear in FAA's pilot database.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from a pole.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/10/2009
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Midland
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79705
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 320200N
Event Location Longitude 1020100W
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 Witness
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 --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 25301
NTSB Notification Source LBB 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 20 2009 3:42PM
User who most recently changed record scoa
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N456PH
NTSB Number CEN09LA201
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Robinson
Aircraft Model R22
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 659M
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Helicopter
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 1
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 1
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Registration Pending
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 11810
Aircraft Owner City Tucson
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 857341810
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Registration Pending
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address P.O. Box 11810
Operator City Tucson
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 857341810
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 --
Departure City Unknown
Departure State UN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Midland
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 17 2009 3:46PM
User who most recently changed record scoa
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --