Space Coast Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Titusville, Florida 32780
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 13:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor reported that during the helicopter instructional flight, hovering, straight-ahead, and 180-degree-turn autorotations were performed. The flight instructor's remedial actions typically included adjustment of pitch attitude to maintain the target airspeed, or collective adjustment to keep the rotor rpm in the normal operating range. During an autorotation with turn initiated by the student, the flight instructor took control of the helicopter but allowed the rotor rpm to decay below the lower limit. He adjusted collective and throttle, and initiated a decelerative flare to build rotor rpm, but the rotor rpm continued its decay. The flight instructor was unable to arrest the helicopter's descent, and the helicopter impacted the ground on the back of the skids, pitched forward and rolled over, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, tailboom, and both the main and tail rotor systems. No preexisting mechanical anomalies were noted with the helicopter.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The instructor's delayed remedial action, which resulted in a loss of rotor rpm and a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/18/2010
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1345
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Titusville
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32780
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 282733N
Event Location Longitude 0805147W
Event Location Airport Space Coast Regional Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KTIX
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 34
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 232
Weather Observation Facility ID KTIX
Elevation of weather observation facility 34
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KTIX 181750Z 17006KT 7SM BKN030 33/22 A3006
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27433
NTSB Notification Source Operator
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 5 2010 9:13PM
User who most recently changed record coxp
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1542D
NTSB Number ERA10CA432
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name SCHWEIZER
Aircraft Model 269C-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0198
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 29 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3854
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name BRISTOW ACADEMY INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City TITUSVILLE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32780-8124
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name BRISTOW ACADEMY INC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City TITUSVILLE
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32780-8124
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 KTIX
Departure City Titusville
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1240
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KTIX
Destination City Titusville
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 27 2010 12:38PM
User who most recently changed record rayb
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --