LAX02LA213 · Robinson R22 BETA
Group 3 Aviation Robinson R22 BETA · Accident: airframe, component or system failure during an emergency descent
From Van Nuys Airport (VNY) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX02LA213
- 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
- Unknown
- 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 BETA
- 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
- N4072T
- Operator
- Group 3 Aviation
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Van Nuys Airport (VNY), Van Nuys, CATo 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
- Emergency descent
- 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
- Airframe, component or system failure
- 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 › Precautionary landing, performed
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The 2,155-hour pilot reported that the helicopter developed an abnormal vibration while en-route to a local practice area. The pilot added that he became concerned about the unusual vibration and elected to land the helicopter as soon as possible to investigate the source of the vibration. The pilot executed a power-on approach to a terraced paved area located to the right of his intended course. While on the approach on a northerly heading, as the pilot was flaring the helicopter for a landing, control was lost after the main rotor blades came in contact with the terraced terrain to his right-front. The pilot stated that the engine was performing "normally" and he did not experience a loss of engine power. He added that at the time of the accident, the winds at the accident site were from the south at an estimated 10 to 13 knots. On June 25, 2002, the Robinson Helicopter Company issued an R22 Safety Alert Letter dealing with unusual vibrations and the possibility of a main rotor blade crack. The letter states that "IF MAIN ROTOR VIBRATION INCREASES RAPIDLY OR BECOMES SEVERE DURING FLIGHT, LAND IMMEDIATELY." The pilot recalled receiving this letter three days prior to the accident and indicated this as the reason for his landing attempt. Both tail rotor blades were broken off about 3 ½ inches from their outboard mount points with severe leading edge damage to both blades. One main rotor blade was bent aft and up from its normal position leaving the trailing edge buckled. The other main rotor blade was bent aft and down from its normal position leaving the trailing edge buckled. Small cracks were observed on both main rotor blades near the root fitting and spar cover area. Due to the observed cracks in the main rotor blade root area, the sealant was removed from both blades and they were subjected to a dye penetrate inspection per Robinson Helicopter Company Service Letter 21A. No indications of cracks in the root fitting material of both blades were found.
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate flare resulting in rotor blade contact with the ground. Contributing factors were the high altitude and the airframe vibration for an undetermined reason.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX02LA213
- Event ID
- 20020703X01049
- Case number
- LAX02LA213
- 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: 78505ccdcb7f1229c17c4992302c3953eae10fd687fb5117105d87b41063e073; retrieved 2026-09-21T09:37:31.756Z.