Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Richvale Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Richvale, California 95965
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:08 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter had undergone a 100-hour inspection the day prior to the accident, which included a flushing of the hydraulic system. The pilot reported that as he lifted the helicopter into a hover, he initiated forward movement. The pilot stated that the controls felt "ratchety" and stiff, as if the helicopter had the hydraulic system turned off. He was not able to land the helicopter by lowering the collective, nor was he able to control direction with the cyclic. The helicopter had climbed about 15 feet above the ground and subsequently collided with a hangar about 160 feet away. The fuselage section remained embedded in the building, while the tail section came to rest on the ground below. A post accident examination revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal flight. A representative for Bell stated that it is common during the "initial start up of all of these aircraft after assembly and/or reassembly or after first servicing," to cycle all of the controls for as long as 2 minutes to attain smooth and uninterrupted control motion. He further stated that during these initial run up exercises it would not be unusual to feel "ratcheting or binding in the cyclic that is generally accompanied by a howling noise" as the hydraulics purge air from the lines, pumps, and actuators. It is unknown if the pilot adequately cycled the controls through their full travel prior to flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during takeoff for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/13/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 908 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Richvale |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95965 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392951N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214616W |
| Event Location Airport | Richvale Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 07CL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 100 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OVE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 192 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26778 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2010 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N843M |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA241 |
| 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 | Rotorcraft Development Corp |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 63-8676 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8500 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 12 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AVAG INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Richvale |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95974 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AVAG INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Richvale |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95974 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 07CL |
| Departure City | Richvale |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 07CL |
| Destination City | Richvale |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2010 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |