- Date
- May 3, 2009, 12:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cottonwood, AZ
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N441CBRobinson R44
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090503008899A
- Case key
- 73763
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 pilot's inadequate visual lookout and failure to maintain clearance from wires.
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 local sightseeing flight departed Prescott to tour the Jerome, Cottonwood, and Verde Rivers areas in Arizona. The pilot was maneuvering through a dry river bed in a hilly area. He did not see a set of power lines until they hit the windshield about level with the top of the instrument panel. The nose immediately pitched up and then quickly pitched forward. The pilot estimated that the airspeed was 70 knots and that the altitude was 150 feet above ground level. He lowered the collective to enter an autorotation but delayed the flare until passing over a ridgeline. He was able to bleed off most of the airspeed and leveled the skids prior to touchdown; however, the skids dug into soft dirt and the helicopter pitched forward. The main rotor blades were still at 100 percent rpm when they struck the ground and sustained substantial damage. The helicopter rocked back and came to rest upright on the skids. The main rotor blades, mast, firewall, tail boom, and tail rotor driveshaft sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
The local sightseeing flight departed Prescott to tour the Jerome, Cottonwood, and Verde Rivers areas in Arizona. The pilot was maneuvering through a dry river bed in a hilly area. He did not see the power lines until they hit the windshield about level with the top of the instrument panel. The nose immediately pitched up and then quickly pitched forward. The pilot estimated that the airspeed was 70 knots, and the altitude was 150 feet above ground level (agl). He lowered the collective to enter an autorotation, but delayed the flare until passing over a ridgeline. He was able to bleed off most of the airspeed, and leveled the skids prior to touchdown; however, the skids dug into soft dirt, and the helicopter pitched forward. The main rotor blades were still at 100 percent revolutions per minute (rpm) when they struck the ground and sustained substantial damage. The helicopter rocked back, and came to rest upright on the skids. The main rotor blades, mast, firewall, tail boom, and tail rotor drive shaft sustained substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N441CB
- Reported as
- Robinson R44
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 10068
- Airframe hours
- 1,541
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5, 205 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Guidance Helicopters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Guidance Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 13, 2009 · 86 hours before
- Departed
- PRC · Prescott, AZ
- Destination
- PRC · Prescott, AZ
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
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 18, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,076 total · 213 in this make and model · 993 as pilot in command · 160 in the last 90 days · 51 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 12 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC, 25 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 8, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 784 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.