Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Merced Rgnl//Macready Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merced, California 95340
Tuesady, June 3, 2014 18:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On June 3, 2014, about 1810 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Mark Emery (Rotorway) 162F Helicopter, N78291, landed hard following a loss of power to the tail rotor system near Merced Regional Airport/Macready Field, Merced, California. The helicopter was registered to, and operated by, the owner under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The helicopter sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence, and was partially consumed by a post-impact fire. The local personal flight departed Merced about 1800. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot departed in the helicopter to an area just north of the airport to practice autorotations. He initiated the first autorotation at 500 feet above ground level, and as he applied power during the flare, the helicopter began to yaw to the left. He applied right foot pedal control input, but the helicopter did not respond, and began to spin to the left. By the time the helicopter had performed about 1 1/2 rotations he reduced engine power. The helicopter then descended, struck the ground, and rolled onto its right side.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/3/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Merced |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95340 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371826N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1203132W |
| Event Location Airport | MERCED RGNL//MACREADY FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MCE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 338 |
| Airport Elevation | 155 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 53 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 156 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMCE 040053Z AUTO 34009KT 10SM CLR 32/07 A29 |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | LAX FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 9 2014 5:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N78291 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA225 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EMERY MARK |
| Aircraft Model | ROTORWAY 162F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6109 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| 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 | JOHNSTON RONALD J2 |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MERCED |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 953416466 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | JOHNSTON RONALD J2 |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MERCED |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 953416466 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MCE |
| Departure City | Merced |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MCE |
| Destination City | Merced |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 9 2014 5:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |