- Date
- June 5, 2000, 13:01 local (17:01 UTC)
- Place
- Indiantown, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N337VHRobinson R22 Beta
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000605007479A
- Case key
- 49369
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to maintain altitude clearance during initial climb following takeoff during the commission of a crime, resulting in an in-flight collision with a tree.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot planned a cross-country flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Pahokee, Florida, then to Stuart, Florida, with a final destination of Ft. Lauderdale. However, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Department, the pilot diverted to the Martin County Treatment Center in Indiantown, Florida. While hovering over the facility's recreation yard, he picked up a passenger who was an inmate at the center. During initial climb following takeoff, the helicopter struck a tree, then collided with the ground in a citrus grove 100 yards from the facility's perimeter.
Factual narrative
On June 5, 2000, at 1301 eastern daylight time, a Robinson R22 Beta helicopter, N337VH, owned and operated by Volar Helicopters, Inc., was substantially damaged during an attempted prison break when it collided with a tree during initial climb following takeoff from the Martin County Treatment Center in Indiantown, Florida. The student pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originally departed Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, at 1130, with a planned destination of Pahokee, Florida.
According to Volar Helicopters in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the student was currently receiving instruction from their flight school. On the day of the accident, he planned a cross-country flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Pahokee, Florida, then to Stuart, Florida, with a final destination of Ft. Lauderdale. Prior to departure, he received an endorsement from his flight instructor to perform the cross-country solo flight.
However, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Department, the pilot diverted to the detention center. While hovering over the facility's recreation yard, he picked up a passenger who was an inmate at the center. During initial climb following takeoff, the helicopter struck a tree. Following an uncontrolled descent, the helicopter collided with the ground in a citrus grove approximately 100 yards from the perimeter of the facility, then flipped over onto its right side.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N337VH
- Reported as
- Robinson R22 Beta
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2373
- Airframe hours
- 3,452
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Volar Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 3, 2000 · 56 hours before
- Departed
- FXE · Ft. Lauderdale, FL
- Destination
- PHK · Pahokee, FL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 23
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 31 total · 31 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI, 36 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.