Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chandler Municipal Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chandler, Arizona 85249
Thursday, April 16, 2009 8:22 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor said the student was practicing a stable hover at 2 to 3 feet altitude, when the helicopter descended with a slight drift to the right. The student said he made a correction and thought the helicopter might touch the ground and lift up again. When the right skid contacted the taxiway, the right rear skid shoe stuck in the asphalt surface and the aircraft rolled right, pivoting on the right skid. The flight instructor immediately bottomed the collective and pushed the cyclic left; however, the aircraft continued to roll onto its right side. Subsequently, the tail boom was bent up and partially separated, the windscreen structure was broken, the main rotor blades were damaged, and the fuselage was wrinkled. The flight instructor said the helicopter belonged to Rotorway, the kit manufacturer, and was used for factory flight training. The company had equipped the skids with prototype skid shoes approximately 10 inches in length that were flat and extended laterally beyond the skids. When the aircraft touched the ground with lateral movement, the aft right skid shoe dug into the asphalt causing the aircraft to roll right. The flight instructor said that after this accident, the company modified the skid shoe design by rounding the shoes to conform to the landing skids.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight and delay in taking remedial action to prevent the helicopter from touching down while drifting. Contributing to the accident was the design of the skid shoes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/16/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 822 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Chandler |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85249 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331628N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114815W |
| Event Location Airport | Chandler Municipal Arpt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CHD |
| 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 | 1243 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 747 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CHD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1243 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| 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) | 30.19 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25859 |
| 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 | Aug 17 2009 12:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N333ST |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA198 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BETTER BURN LLC/STARTUBE DIV |
| Aircraft Model | EXEC 162F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6755 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 24 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 495 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | COBB INTERNATIONAL DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7150 W ERIE ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHANDLER |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85226-2424 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | RotorWay International |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7150 W. Erie St. |
| Operator City | Chandler |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85226 |
| 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 | P19 |
| Departure City | Chandler |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 710 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | P19 |
| Destination City | Chandler |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2009 12:29PM |
| 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 | -- |