# NTSB ANC02LA061: Robinson R-44, N144AK, Shageluk, AK, June 26, 2002 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: June 26, 2002, 09:00 local (17:00 UTC) - Place: Shageluk, AK - Coordinates: 62.466667, -159.559997 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=62.4667&lon=-159.5600&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report January 16, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration FSDO-01 - NTSB case key (mKey): 55075 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC02LA061 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/55075/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=55075 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC02LA061 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to maintain a proper glide path. A factor associated with the accident was the pilot's diverted attention. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Abrupt maneuver, approach - proper glidepath - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - diverted attention, pilot in command (contributing factor) - In flight collision with terrain/water, approach - terrain condition - water ## Analysis The pilot was making a visual approach, over water, to a beach on the shore of a lake. About 200 feet above lake level the pilot said he looked inside the helicopter to check the carburetor heat. When he looked up, the helicopter was headed nose down toward the water. As he made corrective actions, the tail rotor struck the surface of the water. The helicopter continued its descent into the lake, and submerged in about nine feet of water. ## Factual narrative On June 26, 2002, about 0900 Alaska daylight time, a Robinson R-44 helicopter, N144AK, sustained substantial damage during an approach to a beach for landing, about 12 miles south of Shageluk, Alaska. The helicopter was being operated by Quicksilver Air Inc., of Fairbanks, Alaska, as a visual flight rules (VFR) positioning flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, at the time of the accident. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company VFR flight following procedures were in effect. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 27, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who interviewed the pilot, said the pilot told him he had been ferrying surveyors and survey equipment, and was returning to pickup surveyors when the accident occurred. The pilot said he was about 200 feet above the lake, making an approach to a beach, when he looked inside the helicopter to check the carburetor heat. The pilot said when he looked up he was headed, nose down, toward the surface of the lake. He leveled the helicopter above the surface of the lake, but during the attitude recovery, the tail rotor struck the water. The helicopter then settled into the lake, and sank in about nine feet of water. During a telephone conversation with the IIC on June 28, the director of maintenance for the operator said the helicopter had been recovered from the lake. He said a preliminary examination of the helicopter revealed some fuselage damage, and the drive-shaft flex coupling to the tail rotor gearbox was sheered. He said the bulkhead adjacent to the flex coupling was also damaged. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N144AK](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N144AK-2003-01-22), registration cancelled 2003-01-22, S/N 0569, built 1999 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Robinson R-44 - Registry model: [Robinson Helicopter R44](https://openairdocs.org/model/robinson-helicopter-r44) (registry code 7640120) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-540 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-540-series) (registry code 41532, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Helicopter - Serial number: 0569 - Engines: Lycoming O-540-F1B5 260 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Positioning, Part 91 - Operator: Quicksilver Air, Inc. - Registered owner: Richard Swisher - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: SHX, Shageluk, AK - Destination: Shageluk, AK - Flight plan: Company VFR ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 32; injuries: none; commercial, flight instructor; medical: class 2, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; last flight review February 20, 2002; seat: right; flight hours: 1,966 total, 843 in this make and model, 1,909 as pilot in command ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 270° at 3 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 4,500 ft overcast - Temperature: 48 °F, dew point 28 °F - Altimeter: 29.45 inHg - Observed at: PANV, 20 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20020626012749A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020626012749A), Jun 26, 2002: Robsin R44, Shageluk, AK, No damage. (-23) According to the pilot, he was returning to pick up a crew at a remote site approximately fifteen sm* south of Shageluk. The aircraft crossed a 600 foot… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 7, 2002, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=55075. 666 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 666 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40166269&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.