- Date
- April 5, 1991, 09:37 local (17:37 UTC)
- Place
- Temecula, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N80028Robinson R22B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910405009159A
- Case key
- 26993
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 failure of the pilot to maintain separation from obstacles (power lines).
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 was on an authorized three segment cross country flight. The helicopter was observed flying southbound along a highway, 9 miles south of the second segment destination airport. At 150 feet a.g.l., the helicopter struck the bottom wire of a three wire set of transmission lines that spanned the highway. The helicopter then fell into the southbound lanes of the highway. It was immediately struck by a military humvee vehicle that was the second vehicle in a convoy. Both the humvee and helicopter parts were intermixed and destroyed by an intense post crash fire when they came to rest at the side of the highway. The driver of the humvee was not injured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80028
- Reported as
- Robinson R22B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 914
- Airframe hours
- 2,045
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-2BC, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Hiser Helicopters Inc.
- Registered owner
- Hiser Helicopters Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 12, 1991 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- L66 · Corona, CA
- Destination
- L66 · Corona, CA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 29
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 89 total · 89 in this make and model · 77 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RAL, 27 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.