Lansing Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chicago, Illinois 60411
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 17:15 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot stated they had been practicing hovering for about 30 minutes, and were about two feet above the ground. He recalled that he was "controlling the cyclic and maybe the collective, but not the pedals." The flight instructor thought they were three to five feet above the ground. The helicopter experienced a pendular motion and began traveling backwards and to the right. The right skid made contact with the ground, which resulted in the tail impacting the ground and the helicopter rolling onto its side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight instructor's failure to take remedial action in a timely manner.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/2/2013
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1715
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Chicago
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60411
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 413206N
Event Location Longitude 0873146W
Event Location Airport LANSING MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IGQ
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 620
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1715 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID IGQ
Elevation of weather observation facility 620
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report 5:15 PM 71.1 °F 50.0 °F 47% 30.02 in 10.0 mi N
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) 32288
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 19 2013 9:30AM
User who most recently changed record bakd
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N554SA
NTSB Number CEN14CA017
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name ROBINSON
Aircraft Model R22 - BETA
Aircraft Series Identifier BETA
Aircraft Serial Number 1618
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Sun Aero Helicopters INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lansing
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60438
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Sun Aero Helicopters INC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Lansing
Operator State IL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 60438
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code IGQ
Departure City Chicago
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code IGQ
Destination City Chicago
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2013 4:41PM
User who most recently changed record bakd
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --