# NTSB investigations, 2017: Emergency descent

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB WPR18LA041](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR18LA041.md): Robinson Helicopter R22 · Truckee, CA · Accident · Serious injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report · Nov 30, 2017 · N47WH · Substantial damage
  > The flight instructor’s failure to execute a power recovery from a non-stabilized autorotative descent, which resulted in a hard landing.
- [NTSB WPR18LA030](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR18LA030.md): Vanderark RV-10 · Sun Lakes, AZ · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Nov 12, 2017 · N917VA · Substantial damage
  > The fatigue fractures of the upper and lower alternator attachment bolts, which decreased the common drive belt tension and resulted in the subsequent in-flight separation of an alternator drive belt, the overheating of the engine, and the subsequent total…
- [NTSB GAA18CA030](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA18CA030.md): Robinson Helicopter R22 Beta · Las Vegas, NV · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Oct 6, 2017 · N878MC · Substantial damage
  > The student pilot’s tension on the flight control at a low level during an autorotation, which did not allow sufficient time for the flight instructor to correct and recover control before the hard landing.
- [NTSB CEN18LA010](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN18LA010.md): Bellanca 17-30A · Sweetwater, TX · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Oct 6, 2017 · N8234R · Substantial damage
  > The loss of engine power during a precautionary approach for landing for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
- [NTSB WPR17LA211](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR17LA211.md): Robinson Helicopter R22 · Long Beach, CA · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Sep 20, 2017 · N7514S · Substantial damage
  > The student pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm during the crosswind landing approach and his subsequent improper decision to initiate an autorotation instead of applying corrective control inputs after the helicopter experienced normal airframe vibration.…
- [NTSB ERA17FA317](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA17FA317.md): Schweizer 269C · Medford, NJ · Accident · 2 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Sep 8, 2017 · N204HF · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's early entry into and failure to maintain rotor rpm during a forced landing autorotation after performing an engine shutdown in flight, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent. Contributing to the accident was the failure of maintenance personnel…
- [NTSB WPR17IA198](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR17IA198.md): Enstrom F 28F · Glendale, AZ · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · Aug 22, 2017 · N52PD · No damage
  > An internal failure of the turbo-compressor, which resulted in oil leaking into the turbo-compressor’s exhaust.
- [NTSB WPR17FA166](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR17FA166.md): Beech A36TC · Ogden, UT · Accident · 4 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Jul 26, 2017 · N60WB · Substantial damage
  > A loss of control during takeoff for reasons that could not be determined.
- [NTSB GAA17CA434](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA17CA434.md): Robinson Helicopter R22 · Bozeman, MT · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Jul 21, 2017 · N28VH · Substantial damage
  > The flight instructor’s unstabilized autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing.
- [NTSB WPR17LA156](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR17LA156.md): Simmons Gary F Stol CH 701 · Kenwood, CA · Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report · Jul 15, 2017 · N422ES · Substantial damage
  > Failure of the flywheel drive assembly, which resulted in a loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing to uneven terrain.
- [NTSB CEN17WA245](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN17WA245.md): Bell 204 · Alpbach, Austria · Accident · No injuries · Foreign investigation · Jun 22, 2017 · OE-XRK · Substantial damage
- [NTSB WPR17LA099](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR17LA099.md): Diamond Aircraft Ind DA 40 NG · Goodyear, AZ · Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report · Apr 20, 2017 · N154BY · Substantial damage
  > Loss of engine power due to the installation of an improper air induction hose, which failed and prevented sufficient air intake to the turbocharger.
- [NTSB GAA17CA218](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA17CA218.md): Bell 206 · La Verne, CA · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Apr 6, 2017 · N206SA · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s early increased application of the collective during a simulated hovering autorotation, which resulted in a loss of rotor rpm and subsequent main rotor blade strike of the tailboom.
- [NTSB ERA17LA126](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA17LA126.md): Eurocopter AS 350 · San Juan, PR · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Feb 21, 2017 · N413LP · Substantial damage
  > The flight instructor's incorrect manipulations of the twist grip throttle control during a practice autorotation, which resulted in an engine overspeed and subsequent fire.

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
WITH phase_names(main, name) AS (VALUES (100, 'Prior to flight'), (150, 'Standing'), (200, 'Pushback/towing'), (250, 'Taxi'), (300, 'Takeoff'), (350, 'Initial climb'), (400, 'Enroute'), (450, 'Maneuvering'), (500, 'Approach'), (550, 'Landing'), (600, 'Emergency descent'), (650, 'Uncontrolled descent'), (700, 'Post-impact'), (750, 'After landing'), (800, 'Other'), (990, 'Unknown')),
  crosswalk(code, main, name) AS (VALUES (500, 150, 'Standing'), (501, 150, 'Standing - pre-flight'), (502, 150, 'Standing - starting engine(s)'), (503, 150, 'Standing - engine(s) operating'), (504, 150, 'Standing - engine(s) not operating'), (505, 150, 'Standing - idling rotors'), (510, 250, 'Taxi'), (511, 200, 'Taxi - pushback/tow'), (512, 250, 'Taxi - to takeoff'), (513, 250, 'Taxi - from landing'), (514, 250, 'Taxi - aerial'), (520, 300, 'Takeoff'), (521, 300, 'Takeoff - roll/run'), (522, 350, 'Takeoff - initial climb'), (523, 300, 'Takeoff - aborted'), (530, 400, 'Climb'), (531, 400, 'Climb - to cruise'), (540, 400, 'Cruise'), (541, 400, 'Cruise - normal'), (542, 400, 'Maneuvering - holding (IFR)'), (550, 400, 'Descent'), (551, 400, 'Descent - normal'), (552, 600, 'Descent - emergency'), (553, 650, 'Descent - uncontrolled'), (560, 500, 'Approach'), (561, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - downwind'), (562, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - base turn'), (563, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - base leg/base to final'), (564, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - final approach'), (565, 500, 'Go-around (VFR)'), (566, 500, 'Approach - IAF to FAF/outer marker (IFR)'), (567, 500, 'Approach - FAF/outer marker to threshold (IFR)'), (568, 500, 'Circling (IFR)'), (569, 500, 'Missed approach (IFR)'), (570, 550, 'Landing'), (571, 550, 'Landing - flare/touchdown'), (572, 550, 'Landing - roll'), (573, 550, 'Landing - aborted'), (574, 550, 'Emergency landing'), (575, 550, 'Emergency landing after takeoff'), (576, 600, 'Emergency descent/landing'), (580, 450, 'Maneuvering'), (581, 450, 'Maneuvering - aerial application'), (582, 450, 'Maneuvering - turn to reverse direction'), (583, 450, 'Maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency)'), (590, 450, 'Hover'), (591, 450, 'Hover - in ground effect'), (592, 450, 'Hover - out of ground effect'), (600, 800, 'Other'), (610, 990, 'Unknown')),
  current_codes AS (
    SELECT e.case_mkey, TRY_CAST(e."tier1Number" AS INTEGER) AS code,
      row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY e.case_mkey ORDER BY coalesce(e."isDefiningEvent", false) DESC, e.position) AS n
    FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' e
    WHERE e.aircrafts_position = 1 AND e."tier1Number" GLOB '[1-9][0-9]*'
      AND (e."isDefiningEvent" OR e.case_mkey IN (SELECT "mKey" FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' WHERE "isPre1982"))
  ),
  phases AS (
    SELECT case_mkey, 'current' AS scheme, code, CASE WHEN code >= 990 THEN 990 ELSE code // 50 * 50 END AS main
    FROM current_codes WHERE n = 1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT o.case_mkey, 'older', o."phaseOfFlightCode", w.main
    FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_occurrences.parquet' o JOIN crosswalk w ON w.code = o."phaseOfFlightCode"
    WHERE o.aircrafts_position = 1 AND o."occurrenceNumber" = 1 AND o.case_mkey NOT IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM current_codes)
  ),
  case_phases AS (
    SELECT p.*, c."eventDate", c."highestInjuryLevel" = 'Fatal' AS fatal, a.aircraft_model_code
    FROM phases p JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c ON c."mKey" = p.case_mkey
    LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = p.case_mkey AND a.position = 1
    WHERE c."eventDate" >= DATE '1962-01-01' AND p.main IN (SELECT main FROM phase_names)
  )
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE year(c."eventDate") = 2017
  AND c."mKey" IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM case_phases WHERE main = 600)
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/600/cases?year=2017

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