Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pahrump, Nevada 89048
Sunday, August 24, 2014 6:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 24, 2014, about 0650 Pacific daylight time, a Robinson Helicopter Company, R-44 II, N4246Z, sustained substantial damage while practicing an emergency autorotation, about 12 miles south of Pahrump, Nevada. The helicopter was registered to CSC Trust Company of Delaware Trustee and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight that departed North Las Vegas Airport (VGT), Las Vegas, Nevada, about 0605.
The pilot reported a total loss of engine power at about 3,500 feet, above ground level. The pilot made several unsuccessful attempts to restart the engine. Unable to restart the engine, the pilot performed an autorotation emergency landing. The pilot further reported that during landing, the helicopter slid forward about 20 feet; at that point, the skids dug into the dry lake bed and the helicopter nosed over. Subsequently, the main rotor blades impacted the ground, and the helicopter rolled onto its side.
Examination of the helicopter wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the main rotor blades and tail boom were substantially damaged. The helicopter was recovered to a secure storage facility for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/24/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 650 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pahrump |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89048 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361305N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1161031W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 552 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DRA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3314 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KDRA 241252Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 20/03 A29 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional 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 | Sep 2 2014 3:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | nixa |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4246Z |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA353 |
| 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 COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12697 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CSC TRUST COMPANY OF DELAWARE TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 198081645 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Nicholas Sacco |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Las Vegas |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89135 |
| 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 | VGT |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 605 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VGT |
| Destination City | LAS VEGAS |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 4 2014 10:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |