Robinson R22 MARINE N8316D

Summary

On 10 May 2008 at about 17:15 local time, a Robinson R22 MARINE registered N8316D, operated by Boat Pix, was involved in an accident near Austin, Texas, 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

10 May 2008 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Austin, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

None

Coordinates

30.1900, -97.6686

Aircraft

Robinson R22 MARINE

Registration

N8316D

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Boat Pix

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Austin → Lake Travis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW08LA140

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain rotor RPM while maneuvering at a low altitude, which resulted in a loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and pilot rated passenger were operating a single-engine helicopter equipped with pontoons over a lake for the purpose of photographing recreational boats. Several witnesses observed the helicopter flying erratic and at a low altitude over the boats before it impacted the water and rolled inverted. The pilot stated that they were tracking a boat approximately 100 feet above the ground level. The boat was traveling to the south and they were flying to the north with a tail wind. He said that he executed a right hand turn and noticed that the rotor RPM had begun to decrease, the rotor RPM horn came on, and the governor light began to flash. The pilot immediately began to execute a low rotor RPM recovery by lowering the collective, increasing engine power, and continuing to turn into the wind but was unable to recover RPM before hitting the water. The helicopter hit the water and bounced back up with a bit of a wave. When the helicopter came back down, a wake from one of the boats they had been tracking washed over the floats, which caused the helicopter to roll to the front and flip over. The governor controller was examined and no anomalies were noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.