Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Honolulu International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Friday, August 1, 2014 15:00 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while air-taxiing east about 15 feet above ground level (agl) to parking with adjoining buildings on both sides, which were known for buffeting winds that made it difficult to control the helicopter's yaw, he encountered a strong gust of wind. The helicopter abruptly yawed to the right and he input left pedal control which did not correct the right yaw. The helicopter continued rotating to the right at an increasing speed; full left pedal had no effect. The pilot stated that the helicopter subsequently completed several 360-degree turns to the right, which rendered it completely uncontrollable; he abruptly lowered the collective from about 8 to 10 feet agl to get the helicopter on the ground. During the descent the helicopter's left skid impacted the center of the taxiway, slid toward a fuel truck, and came to rest on its right side. The main rotor blade impacted a fuel truck's windshield. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail boom and the upper and lower cabin/cockpit structure. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain aircraft control during taxi, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor effectiveness and subsequent impact with the taxiway and a parked fuel truck.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/1/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Honolulu |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96819 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 211660N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1575500E |
| Event Location Airport | Honolulu International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HNL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33373 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP 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 | Oct 20 2014 2:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | litt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N110JC |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA325 |
| 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 COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 13346 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 77 |
| Airframe Hours | 375 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JULIET CHARLIE LEASING CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MILILANI |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 967891038 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | JULIET CHARLIE LEASING CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MILILANI |
| Operator State | HI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 967891038 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | I-99 |
| Departure City | Kaunakakai |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HNL |
| Destination City | Honolulu |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2014 4:39PM |
| 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 | -- |