Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:00 HST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While the student pilot was maneuvering for a practice off-field landing, the flight instructor observed that it was starting to drizzle, so he instructed the student to apply carburetor heat, which he did. As the student was continuing to maneuver for the approach to landing, the instructor detected a loss of engine power. The flight instructor immediately took control of the helicopter, rolled the throttle off and on to recover the loss of rotor rpm, and subsequently instructed the student to try to restart the engine while he set up an emergency landing. The student attempted three engine restarts, each of which was unsuccessful. The flight instructor then performed an emergency autorotation to upsloping terrain, which resulted in a hard landing and substantial damage to the helicopter. The instructor stated that the engine was running at idle after the landing. A postaccident examination of the engine and a subsequent engine run revealed no operational difficulties that would have precluded normal operation. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power while maneuvering for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/2/2012
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Hawaii Standard Time
Event City Kailua-Kona
Event State HAWAII
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96740
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 194707N
Event Location Longitude 1555556W
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 1653 Hawaii Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID HKO
Elevation of weather observation facility 30
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation HST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
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) 29.95
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 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 31110
NTSB Notification Source LAX 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 May 1 2013 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N209KR
NTSB Number WPR12LA195
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
Aircraft Model R22
Aircraft Series Identifier BETA
Aircraft Serial Number 2218
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 Apr 5 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 79
Airframe Hours 8379
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Hawaii Pacific Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kailua-Kona
Aircraft Owner State HI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96740
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Hawaii Pacific Aviation Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Kailua-Kona
Operator State HI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 96740
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 HKO
Departure City Kailua-Kona
Departure State HI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1630
Departure Time Zone HST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code HKO
Destination City Kailua-Kona
Destination State HI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 20 2013 5:47PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --