- Date
- June 18, 1988, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Copake Falls, NY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N622SCRobinson R22HP
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880618024309A
- Case key
- 36171
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
During a practice autorotation to an open field, the aircraft struck a wire that had not been observed. An attempt to fly over the wire was unsuccessful and the tail rotor and aft 1/3 of the tail cone was severed from the helicopter. A hovering autorotation from 20 feet AGL was then performed which resulted in bent skids and the main rotor blades being destroyed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N622SC
- Reported as
- Robinson R22HP
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0052
- Airframe hours
- 1,995
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aviation Training Academy
- Registered owner
- Fuller Aviation Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 17, 1988 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- DXR · Danbury, CT
- Destination
- PSF · Pittsfield, 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
- 31
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 974 total · 969 in this make and model · 909 as pilot in command · 165 in the last 90 days · 46 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.