- Date
- August 1, 1987, 20:20 local (Aug 2, 1987, 00:20 UTC)
- Place
- Sterling, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9078ZRobinson R22
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 24, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870801040469A
- Case key
- 30706
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
Before flying solo, the student plt & his instructor (CFI) practiced autorotations for about 1/2 hr. The CFI deplaned & the student took off on a solo flt. He flew to a reservoir area for more practice. After descending from about 1000' to 500', the eng lost power. The student made an autorotation to the an open area near the reservoir. However, during touchdown on sloping terrain, the helicopter rolled over. A post-acdnt exam was made, but no eng or fuel system discrepancies were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9078Z
- Reported as
- Robinson R22
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0288
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 124 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aviation Training Academy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Sterling, MA
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
- 27
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 24 total · 24 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N9078Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.