- Date
- September 25, 2013, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Flagstaff, AZ
- Injuries
- 3 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N190SHRobinson R44 - II
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 19, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20130925022489A
- Case key
- 88128
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 failure to maintain rotor rpm while landing in a gusty wind at a high density altitude.
Findings · 4
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 reported that he was landing the helicopter in a bowl-shaped meadow surrounded by mountains and trees. While circling the landing zone to determine the surface wind and descending, about 20 feet above ground level, the helicopter encountered a wind gust. The low rotor horn sounded and the pilot regained rpm, but another wind gust from behind again resulted in a loss of rotor rpm. The pilot said he was too low to recover, so he performed a run-on landing. The helicopter struck an earthen berm and rolled onto its left side, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and tail boom. The elevation at the accident site was 8,411 feet; the density altitude was calculated to have been 10,059 feet. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing the helicopter in a bowl-shaped meadow surrounded by mountains and trees. While circling the landing zone to determine the surface winds and descending, about 20 feet above ground level, the helicopter encountered a wind gust. The low rotor horn sounded and the pilot regained rpm, but another wind gust from behind again resulted in a loss of rotor rpm. The pilot said he was too low to recover, so he performed a run-on landing. The helicopter struck an earthen berm and rolled onto its left side, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and tail boom. The elevation at the accident site was 8,411 feet; the density altitude was calculated to have been 10,059 feet. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N190SH
- Reported as
- Robinson R44 - II
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 11694
- Built
- 2007
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 245 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Atherton Aviation LLC, doing business as Phoenix Helicopter Services
- Registered owner
- Eric A. Spitzer LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 8, 2013
- Departed
- SDL · Scottsdale, AZ
- Destination
- Flagstaff, 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
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 15, 2012
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,160 total · 607 in this make and model · 1,025 as pilot in command · 124 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 18 knots, gusting 29
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Turbulence
- Moderate
- Observed at
- FLG, 16 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 6, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 973 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.