- Date
- October 30, 1993, 19:31 local (Oct 31, 1993, 02:31 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8452ZRobinson R22A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 1, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19931030041249A
- Case key
- 28586
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 separation of the tail rotor due to a collision with a mylar balloon and the subsequent hard landing during an autorotation. A factor in the accident was the dark night lighting conditions which limited the pilot's ability to see and avoid the balloon.
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
According to statements from the pilot, his passenger, and ground witnesses, the pilot was providing helicopter rides to fellow employees at a company halloween party. While overflying the party location, a large mylar party balloon broke free and drifted up in the path of the helicopter. The tail rotor blades struck the balloon and then separated from the helicopter. The pilot initiated an autorotation to a parking lot and touched down hard. Responding sheriff's department officers found fragments of a mylar balloon about 100 feet southeast of the helicopter.
Factual narrative
On October 30, 1993, at 1931 Pacific daylight time, a Robinson R-22A helicopter, N8452Z, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing from an autorotation in Santa Rosa, California. The autorotation was precipitated by a loss of the tail rotor following an inflight contact with a mylar balloon. The helicopter was owned and operated by Peregrine Helicopters, Inc., of Santa Rosa, California, and was rented by the pilot for a local area personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the operation. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. Neither the certificated private pilot nor his one passenger were injured. The flight originated at the Santa Rosa airport on the day of the mishap at about 1900 hours.
According to statements from the pilot, his passenger, and ground witnesses, the pilot was providing helicopter rides to fellow employees at a company halloween party. While overflying the party location, a large mylar party balloon broke free and drifted up in the path of the helicopter. The tail rotor blades struck the balloon and then separated from the helicopter. The pilot initiated an autorotation to a parking lot and touched down hard. Responding sheriff's department officers found fragments of a mylar balloon about 100 feet south east of the helicopter.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8452Z
- Reported as
- Robinson R22A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0375
- Airframe hours
- 5,174
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Peregrine Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 18, 1993 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- STS
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 161 total · 135 in this make and model · 92 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- STS, 1 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.