- Date
- February 18, 2009, 08:05 local (16:05 UTC)
- Place
- Encinitas, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N588LERobinson Helicopter R22 Beta II
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 12, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 73367
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
A partial loss of engine power for an undetermined reason. Contributing to the accident was the soft terrain.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot, who also operated the flight school that owned the helicopter, reported that he was giving a prospective flight instructor a pre-employment check ride. The flight instructor entered a practice autorotation from approximately 700 to 800 feet mean sea level to the beach at the ocean shoreline with the plan to perform a power recovery. When the flight instructor attempted to increase power, the power recovered to only approximately 70 percent. The pilot took the flight controls and performed an emergency autorotation to the sandy beach. The helicopter's forward motion was between 3 to 5 knots when it touched down. The pilot said the helicopter stopped suddenly due to the wet sand, causing the aircraft to rock forward and back. The backward motion permitted a main rotor blade to slice through and separate the tail boom. A post accident engine run was performed with no operational difficulties noted.
Factual narrative
The pilot/operator reported that he was giving a prospective flight instructor an employment checkout ride. The flight instructor entered a practice autorotation, from approximately 700 to 800 feet mean sea level, to the ocean shoreline (beach) with the plan to perform a power recovery. When the flight instructor attempted to increase power, the power recovered to only approximately 70 percent. The pilot took the flight controls and performed an emergency autorotation to the sandy beach. The helicopter's forward motion was between 3 to 5 knots when it touched down. The pilot said the wet sand was like "glue" and the helicopter stopped suddenly, causing the aircraft to "rock forward and back." The backward motion permitted a main rotor blade to slice through and separate the tail boom. A post accident engine run was performed with no operational difficulties noted. At the time of the accident, the temperature was 48 degrees Fahrenheit and the dew point was 43 degrees Fahrenheit. The carburetor icing curve chart placed the conditions in serious icing for cruise or climb power. The aircraft was equipped with a carburetor temperature gauge and the pilot reported that carburetor heat was on and the needle was below the yellow band. He reported that the time from power off to the attempted recovery was between approximately 15 to 20 seconds.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N588LE
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R22 Beta II
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3588
- Airframe hours
- 4,530
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-2JA, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- DDG Management, LLC., doing business as Power Helicopters
- Registered owner
- Bank of Utah
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 2, 2009 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- CRQ · Carlsbad, CA
- Destination
- CRQ · Carlsbad, CA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Check pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 7, 2008
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 410 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command · 125 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 27, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 260 total · 260 in this make and model · 200 as pilot in command · 55 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- CRG, 8 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 13, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 MB in all.