Robinson R22 BETA N82001

Summary

On 23 September 2005 at about 00:30 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N82001 was involved in an accident near Kamuela, Hawaii, 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.

Date

23 September 2005 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Kamuela, Hawaii, United States

Nearest airport

Waimea-Kohala (MUE)

Coordinates

20.0011, -155.6681

Aircraft

Robinson R22 BETA

Registration

N82001

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kailua-Kona → Kamuela

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05CA314

Nobody was injured.

The student's misjudged landing flare, and the instructor's inadequate supervision and delayed remedial action. A factor in the accident was the high density altitude.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While executing a practice 180-degree full touchdown autorotation, the helicopter landed hard, spreading the landing gear skids, and the main rotor blades flexed and chopped off the tailboom. The helicopter bounced into the air, landed again, and spun several times before coming to a stop. The student initiated the maneuver at 500 feet above ground level. He started the turn abeam the runway, and when they were 90 degrees into the turn, he noted his airspeed at 65 knots and rotor rpm at 105 percent. He increased the collective to keep the main rotor from over speeding as he continued the turn. The pilot leveled off and aligned the helicopter with the runway for landing. His flight instructor told him to lower the collective, which he did, as well as inputting aft cyclic to start the flare. The instructor took over the flight controls when it became evident that the student was unable to arrest the descent. The instructor made sure the helicopter was leveled and attempted to cushion the landing prior to ground contact. The instructor indicated that the combination of a higher descent rate, higher airspeed, and density altitude led to the accident. Both pilots reported that there were no mechanical anomalies. The airport was at an altitude of 2,671 feet mean sea level, and the calculated density altitude was 4,200 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.