Robinson R22 BETA N345VH

Summary

On 2 January 2013 at about 23:10 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N345VH, operated by Helicopter Academy, was involved in an accident near Tampa, Florida, 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

2 January 2013 at 23:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Tampa, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Peter O Knight Airport (TPF)

Coordinates

27.9156, -82.4494

Aircraft

Robinson R22 BETA

Registration

N345VH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Helicopter Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clearwater → Tampa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

ERA13LA104

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s delayed throttle application during the practice autorotation and the flight instructor’s lack of immediate remedial action, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and her student were practicing autorotations. The student entered a practice autorotation at 500 feet above ground level (agl) and at 70 knots. About 40 feet agl, the student bled off airspeed by flaring the helicopter. The student advanced the throttle, but the rpm started to decay. The instructor had her hands on the controls and added throttle to arrest the rpm decay. When the rpm continued to decay, she took the controls and performed a hovering autorotation. The helicopter impacted a grassy area next to the runway, bounced, and rolled over, coming to an immediate stop. The fuselage and main rotor sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there was excessive play in the left throttle and that she had reported the condition to the operator’s mechanic twice previously. Examination of the throttle system found it to be in an airworthy condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.