Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ramona, California 92065
Thursday, September 22, 2011 15:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor stated that he initiated the autorotation demonstration maneuver between 600 to 700 feet above ground level (agl) by rolling off the throttle and splitting the needles. About 300 feet agl, he initiated the recovery; however, he then noticed that the engine rpm was near zero and that the engine would not respond to throttle input. About 100 feet agl, the airspeed was about 40 knots, and the rotor rpm was on the low side of the green arc. The helicopter subsequently landed hard, slid forward, rolled over, and came to rest on its right side. A postaccident examination revealed no anomalies with the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The company chief pilot stated that, shortly after the instructor was hired, he showed the instructor the proper technique for teaching autorotations, which did not include rolling the throttle off in flight, a procedure that could result in engine stoppage. About 4 months after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration issued Special Airworthiness Bulletin SW-12-12, “Conducting Engine-Failure Simulation in Helicopters with Reciprocating Engines.” The bulletin cautions owners and operators of Schweizer 269C and 269C-1 helicopters to avoid throttle chops to full idle in order to minimize the possibility of engine stoppage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor’s failure to follow the proper procedure while demonstrating a practice autorotation, which resulted in a total loss of engine power and subsequent hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/22/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1540 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ramona |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92065 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 330724N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1165500W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1395 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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) | 30142 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2012 2:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1088Y |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA462 |
| 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 | HUGHES |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UNDESIGNAT |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 611054 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 16 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 8761 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Civic Helicopters INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carlsbad |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92011 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Allen D. Hopkins |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Redlands |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92373 |
| 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 | CRQ |
| Departure City | Carlsbad |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1405 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CRQ |
| Destination City | Carlsbad |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 16 2012 10:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |