Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palo Alto Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palo Alto, California 94303
Thursday, March 15, 2012 16:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a solo instructional flight, the pilot reported that while on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, just before turning to the base leg, the helicopter sustained a loss of rotor rpm. The pilot reported that he entered an autorotation and that the throttle was unresponsive. After landing in a marsh area, the helicopter rolled over.
A postaccident examination of the helicopter and a successful engine run revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot's flight instructor related that the pilot had a documented history of inadvertently gripping the throttle on the collective which, while manipulating the collective, would result in overriding the governor and a low rotor condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper use of the throttle grip, which resulted in the deactivation of the rpm governor and a loss of rotor rpm.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Palo Alto |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94303 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372737N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220631W |
| Event Location Airport | Palo Alto Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1647 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 13 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KPAO 152347Z 27010KT 13SM BKN025 BKN110 17/1 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32014 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WP 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 | Oct 27 2013 4:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | jonp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N290SH |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA140 |
| 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 | ROBINSON HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4186 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | Feb 10 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 |
| Airframe Hours | 2051 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PARKER HELICOPTER LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAPITOLA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95010-3431 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Sirius Flying LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Palo Alto |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94303 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PAO |
| Departure City | Palo Alto |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1640 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PAO |
| Destination City | Palo Alto |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2013 2:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 2443 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |