- Date
- March 10, 2001, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Islip, NY
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9077FRobinson R-22
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO-11
- FAA report
- 20010310008139A
- Case key
- 51919
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 certified flight instructor’s inadequate supervision and delayed remedial action, which resulted in a roll-over. Factors in this accident were the crosswind condition and soft landing area.
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 certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were practicing auto-rotations from a hover. According to the CFI, after the student pilot rolled off the throttle, he immediately raised the collective, instead of letting the helicopter settle. The helicopter also began to yaw to the left and the wind was 17 to 21 knots, blowing from right to left. The student pilot then made an abrupt input to the cyclic control and the left skid contacted the ground. He also applied "full up collective a little too early." The CFI said that the helicopter's left skid dug into the soft ground, and it began to roll over. He further stated, "When I realized the helicopter was about to pivot over, it was already too late...." The helicopter rolled onto it's left side, and the main and tail rotor blades contacted the ground. The CFI reported he had accumulated approximately 900 flight hours in helicopters, of which, about 800 hours were in the R-22. Winds reported at the airport, about the time of the accident, were from 290 degrees at 11 knots, with 19 knot gusts.
Factual narrative
On March 10, 2001, about 1700 Eastern Standard Time, a Robinson R-22, N9077F, was substantially damaged while landing at the Long Island Mac Arthur Airport (ISP), Islip, New York. The certificated flight instructor (CFI) sustained minor injuries, and a student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR part 91.
The CFI and student pilot were practicing auto-rotations from a hover.
According to the CFI, after the student pilot "rolled off" the throttle, he immediately raised the collective, instead of letting the helicopter settle. The helicopter then began to yaw to the left and the wind was 17 to 21 knots, blowing from right to left. The student pilot then made an abrupt input to the cyclic control and the left skid contacted the ground. He also applied "full up collective a little too early." The CFI said that the helicopter's left skid dug into the soft ground, and it began to roll over. He further stated, "When I realized the helicopter was about to pivot over, it was already too late...."
The helicopter rolled onto it's left side, and the main and tail rotor blades contacted the ground.
The CFI reported he had accumulated approximately 900 flight hours in helicopters, of which, about 800 hours were in the R-22.
Winds reported at ISP, about the time of the accident, were from 290 degrees at 11 knots, with 19 knot gusts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9077F
- Reported as
- Robinson R-22
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0269
- Airframe hours
- 8,503
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Helicopter Flight Training, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Eastern Flight Services
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 16, 2001 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- ISP · Islip, NY
- Destination
- ISP · Islip, NY
- Airport
- ISP · Mac Arthur
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
- 24
- Injuries
- Minor
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- February 16, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 965 total · 800 in this make and model · 915 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 11 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- ISP
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.