Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fielding, Utah 84311
Thursday, June 27, 2013 19:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot reported that, upon entering the mouth of a canyon, he slowed the helicopter to between 70 and 75 knots because he had experienced turbulence going through the canyon with his instructor the day before the accident. About halfway through the canyon, the helicopter dropped about 100 feet, and the main rotor rpm was between 80 and 85 percent. He lowered the collective and rolled on the throttle to regain rotor rpm and then turned toward a field to set up for a precautionary landing. During the turn, the main rotor rpm rose to about 90 percent, but, after leveling out, the pilot observed the rpm decrease again to between 80 and 85 percent. The pilot stated that, after he cleared a set of wires and landed the helicopter in the field, the front skid caught on something, and the helicopter tipped over on its left side, which resulted in substantial damage. The calculated density altitude at the time of the accident was 8,830 feet, which could have reduced the available engine torque and, subsequently, the rotor rpm. A postaccident examination of the helicopter’s engine and airframe revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm while traversing a canyon in high-density altitude and gusting wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/27/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fielding |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84311 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414925N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120328E |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1956 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4457 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32781 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Mar 13 2014 11:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | litt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7187B |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA295 |
| 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 | ROBINSON HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | Astro |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0517 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 5 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 3085 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMW AEROSPACE LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | OGDEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84405-3301 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Whirlybird Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ogden |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84405 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BMC |
| Departure City | Brigham City |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OGD |
| Destination City | Ogden |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 20 2014 4:42PM |
| 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 | -- |