Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chino Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chino Hills, California 91710
Saturday, August 6, 2011 13:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor/owner of the experimental amateur-built helicopter took the rotorcraft-rated private pilot on an informal demonstration flight. The two spent about 40 minutes conducting traffic pattern work at a local airport and then departed the area, flying about 500 feet above ground level. The private pilot was the pilot flying. When the helicopter was about 7 miles from the airport, the pilot noticed that the engine "sputtered," and called it to the attention of the owner, who then took control of the helicopter. The engine ceased operating about the same time. The owner initiated a 180-degree autorotation to a vacant field. Due to some forward speed at touchdown, the landing skids dug into the turf and the helicopter pitched nose down. The main rotor struck the ground and also severed the tail boom, and the helicopter rolled onto its left side. Postaccident examination indicated that there was less than 1 gallon of fuel remaining on board.
The manufacturer's pilots operating handbook did not contain any fuel consumption rate information; the only reference to range or endurance was the statement "Range with maximum fuel at optimum power 180 miles/2 hrs." The owner reported that he began the flight with 17 gallons (the maximum quantity) , and that the engine consumed about 9 gallons per hour; he did not specify the source of that information or the power setting or flight mode for that consumption rate. Since the fuel consumption rate for takeoffs and traffic pattern work can be significantly higher than that for cruise flight at "optimum power," the endurance of the helicopter during the accident flight would have been commensurately less than 2 hours. The helicopter was equipped with a fuel quantity gauge and cockpit instrumentation also provided a means for a pilot to determine the approximate remaining fuel quantity in flight by selecting the "fuel used"' option on the cockpit display. Neither the pilot nor the owner reported using either means to check or monitor fuel quantity during the flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of both the owner's and the pilot's failure to determine or monitor the remaining fuel quantity during the flight. Contributing to the accident was the manufacturer's lack of fuel consumption rate data for planning purposes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/6/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1355 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chino Hills |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91710 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335829N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1173811W |
| Event Location Airport | Chino |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CNO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 650 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 650 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32021 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Local Authorities |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2013 5:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N162CT |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA373 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROTORWAY |
| Aircraft Model | EXEC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 162F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6445 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | May 26 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 205 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Chris Tronaas |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alta Loma |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91701 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Chris Tronaas |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Alta Loma |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 91701 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | CNO |
| Departure City | Chino |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CNO |
| Destination City | Chino |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2013 5:17PM |
| 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 | -- |