Robinson R22 BETA N74536

Summary

On 9 July 2007 at about 16:10 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N74536, operated by Rotorspins LLC, was involved in an accident near Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. One person was 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

9 July 2007 at 16:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

35.1450, -106.7950

Aircraft

Robinson R22 BETA

Registration

N74536

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Rotorspins LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Albuquerque → Edgewood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN07CA115

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during an encounter with the loss of tail rotor effectiveness. Contributing factors were the high density altitude and the power lines.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot, he was on a solo cross country flight. Prior to departure from a local airport, he refueled the helicopter with 15 gallons of fuel. After departure, the helicopter headed north, turned to the east, and then turned to a southerly direction. While in cruise flight at 6,800 feet mean sea level (msl), the student reported that the helicopter began losing altitude. In an attempt to recover the altitude, the student increased collective and reduced forward airspeed. At 1,000 feet above ground level and airspeed of 50 to 60 knots, the student further increased the collective and the helicopter "pitched, then turned rapidly to the right." The student partially lowered the collective and did not attempt to use the pedals to stop the turn as the helicopter continued to lose altitude. After the helicopter rotated approximately 160 degrees to the right, the helicopter "stopped or slowed turning." While heading in a northerly direction, the student then noticed a radio tower in front of the helicopter and applied right cyclic to avoid the tower. The student attempted to land the helicopter to a parking lot. During the attempted landing, the helicopter contacted power lines, impacted the parking lot, and came to rest on its left side. Examination of the helicopter revealed no anomalies with the airframe or engine. The calculated density altitude for the weather conditions at the time of the accident was approximately 9,600 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.