CHI93LA187 · Robinson R22
Robinson R22 · Accident: loss of control in flight while taxiing
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI93LA187
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Robinson R22
- Aircraft type
- Robinson R22
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N44227
- Operator
- Austin, Michael C. · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Taxi · aerial
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Aircraft control, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Judgment, poor
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE FIXED-WING ONLY STUDENT PILOT REPORTED HE WAS RUNNING UP THE ENGINE ON HIS HELICOPTER TO CHECK THE MAGNETOS. HE SAID DURING THE RUN-UP HE FELT A VIBRATION AFTER ENGAGING THE ROTOR BLADES, AND HE DECIDED TO FASTENED HIS SEAT BELT. HE SAID HE LEANED OVER TO CHECK THE MAGNETOS, AND A GUST OF WIND, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A COLLECTIVE THAT CAME OFF THE BOTTOM STOP, ALLOWED THE HELICOPTER TO LIFTOFF. HE SAID HE PUT THE COLLECTIVE DOWN, AND THE HELICOPTER CRASHED. A POLICE OFFICER WHO INTERVIEWED THE STUDENT PILOT SHORTLY AFTER THE ACCIDENT, REPORTED THE STUDENT PILOT TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS DOING SOME HOVER PRACTICE WHEN A STRONG WIND GUST CAUGHT THE HELICOPTER AND HE LOST CONTROL AND CRASHED. THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR WHO FLEW THE HELICOPTER LAST PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT SAID SHE HAD SECURED THE FRICTION LOCK ON THE COLLECTIVE AFTER HER FLIGHT. THE COLLECTIVE WAS FOUND IN THE FULL UP POSITION AT THE ACCIDENT SITE. A DIAGRAM OF THE ACCIDENT SITE INDICATES THE HELICOPTER WAS AIRBORNE FOR APPROXIMATELY 200 YARDS PRIOR TO IMPACT.
Probable cause
THE FIXED-WING STUDENT PILOT'S POOR JUDGEMENT IN ATTEMPTING TO FLY A ROTARY WING AIRCRAFT, AND THE SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF CONTROL IN-FLIGHT. THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE TRAINING IN ROTARY WING AIRCRAFT WAS A FACTOR.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI93LA187
- Event ID
- 20001211X12366
- Case number
- CHI93LA187
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: db3393732c77ef074319fea5e3ceba888fcae8124b12257a48d06b7c153503a9; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:24:15.423Z.