Cessna 182 N9021X

Summary

On 2 October 2017 at about 14:48 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N9021X was involved in an accident near San Juan, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 2017 at 14:48

Classification

Accident

Location

San Juan, United States

Nearest airport

Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci (SIG)

Coordinates

18.4567, -66.0983

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N9021X

Category

Airplane

Year built

1961

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Charlotte Amali → San Juan

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA002

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate distance from helicopters during the approach for landing, resulting in an encounter with wake turbulence and subsequent loss of control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot and pilot-rated passenger were approaching the airport for landing during a personal flight; the tower controller cleared the airplane to land behind a flight of two Blackhawk helicopters. The passenger reported that he and the pilot visually acquired the helicopters and were instructed by the controller to perform s-turns for spacing during final approach. As the airplane crossed the runway threshold, the passenger noted that the helicopters were clearing the runway. The airplane then encountered a "heavy downdraft" followed by a "burst" that pitched the airplane to the left. The pilot subsequently initiated a go-around, during which the airplane encountered another "burst," pitched up, rolled inverted, and collided with the ground between the runway and taxiway. The passenger reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane and that the engine was performing normally. The pilot died in the hospital the day after the accident. Although the controller cleared the airplane for landing following the helicopters, Federal Aviation Administration guidance on wake turbulence avoidance states that, if a pilot accepts a clearance to visually follow a preceding aircraft, the pilot accepts responsibility for both separation and wake turbulence avoidance. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the airplane encountering wake turbulence from the landing helicopters, and it is likely that, had the pilot maintained greater separation from the helicopters or conducted a go-around earlier, the airplane would not have encountered the wake vortices that resulted in the loss of control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.