Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Paula Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Paula, California
Friday, May 23, 2014 10:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 23, 2014, about 1030 Pacific daylight time, a Robinson Helicopter R22 Beta, N4081H, was substantially damaged when it impacted power lines and terrain while maneuvering west of the Santa Paula Airport (SZP) Santa Paula, California. The commercial pilot was the sole occupant of the helicopter and was fatally injured. The helicopter was registered to Sierra Flite, LLC, Camden, Delaware, and operated by Channel Islands Helicopters, LLC, Oxnard, California, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, and no flight plan was filed. The local flight originated from Oxnard Airport (OXR) Oxnard, California at about 0930.
According to representative from Channel Islands Helicopters, the pilot departed OXR after refueling and flew to Camarillo and then to SZP. The pilot was building flight time towards his rotorcraft commercial rating.
A witness, who lived near the accident site, saw the helicopter flying in a northeasterly direction paralleling her property. The helicopter was below the tree line on the opposite side of the riverbed and was descending. The witness stated that the helicopter sounded normal but was unusually loud because it was so close. Shortly after losing sight of the helicopter, she heard two loud "pops."
Examination of the accident site by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) revealed that the helicopter impacted power lines and terrain about 1 and 1/2 miles west of SZP. The three phase overhead distribution power lines were separated directly over the accident site. These lines were supported by two wooden H-frame pole assemblies at a distance of about 1,000 feet from each other. The separated power lines were found in the surrounding bamboo vegetation and trees adjacent to the riverbed. Near the northern positioned H-frame, small spot fires were reported in the surrounding vegetation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Santa Paula |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341937N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1190448W |
| Event Location Airport | SANTA PAULA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SZP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 221 |
| Airport Elevation | 243 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 181 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 65 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| 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) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KCMA 231655Z 20007KT 10SM CLR 18/12 A3001 RM |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | ROC-Los Angeles, CA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2014 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4081H |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA203 |
| 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 | BETA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1927 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1369 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Mar 29 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 52.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 4322.7 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SIERRA FLITE LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAMDEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 199341249 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Channel Islands Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Oxnard |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93030 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OXR |
| Departure City | OXNARD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | OXR |
| Destination City | OXNARD |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2014 5:30PM |
| 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 | -- |