Robinson R22 BETA N878MC
6 October 2017 · Las Vegas, Nevada, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 6 October 2017 at about 14:20 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N878MC was involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 14:20
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
- Nearest airport
- North Las Vegas (VGT)
- Coordinates
- 36.2094, -115.1928
- Aircraft
- Robinson R22 BETA
- Registration
- N878MC
- Category
- Helicopter
- Year built
- 2005
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Las Vegas → Las Vegas
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- GAA18CA030
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
The student pilot’s tension on the flight control at a low level during an autorotation, which did not allow sufficient time for the flight instructor to correct and recover control before the hard landing.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The purpose of the training flight was to practice autorotations with power recovery. The flight instructor reported that, as the helicopter descended through about 40 ft, he instructed the student pilot to increase the landing flare and roll on throttle for power recovery. As the helicopter continued to quickly descend to about 8 ft, they raised the collective, and the flight instructor felt resistance in the collective. The rpms began to drag down, and he tried rolling on the throttle to bring the rpms back up. The flight instructor reported that he believed that the student had tensed up on the throttle and collective as he tried to keep the helicopter level and cushion for the landing. The student pilot reported that, in hindsight, he was pulling up on the collective, but his hand (wrist) was locked, which prevented the governor to roll on and increase power. The helicopter subsequently landed hard, which resulted in substantial damage the fuselage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Robinson R22 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Nov 2017 | Robinson R22 BETA | Electra, Texas, United States | Carmichael Helicopter Service LLC | Fatal | 1 |
| 2 Aug 2017 | Robinson R22 BETA | Cloncurry, Australia | GARLAND, Rankin Lou | Fatal | 1 |
| 20 Sep 2017 | Robinson R22 | Long Beach, California, United States | Revolution Aviation | Serious injuries | - |
| 23 Sep 2017 | Robinson R22 | Clearwater, Florida, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 30 Jun 2017 | Robinson R22 | Kelso, Washington, United States | Hillsboro Aero Academy | No injuries | - |
| 24 Sep 2017 | Robinson R22 | Santa Barbara, California, United States | Tumbleweed Leasing Co Inc | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Feb 2017 | Eurocopter EC130 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Maverick Helicopters Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 1 Mar 2017 | Bellanca 17-30A | Carson City, Nevada, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 23 Jun 2017 | Cessna A185 | Henderson, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 31 Jul 2017 | Air Tractor AT 802A | Wells, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 17 Sep 2017 | Trudel GP 4 | Reno, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Mar 2017 | Lancair COLUMBIA 400 | Henderson, Nevada, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |