WPR12FA066 · Robinson Helicopter R22 BETA
Raytheon Missile Systems Robinson Helicopter R22 BETA · Accident: loss of engine power (total) while maneuvering
From Tucson International Airport (TUS) to Tucson International Airport (TUS)
Event
- NTSB case
- WPR12FA066
- 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 Helicopter 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
- N4052G
- Operator
- Raytheon Missile Systems
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, AZTo Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, AZ
- 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
- Maneuvering
- Defining eventThe 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 engine power (total)
- 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
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot was flying a series of maneuvers when he broadcasted to the local air traffic controller a loss of engine power. During the forced landing, the helicopter impacted terrain and was found resting on its right side. The pilot did not recall the events of the accident.
During the postaccident airframe and engine examinations, the engine was started and operated over a range of power settings, from idle to full power. After several minutes of normal operation, the engine was shut down. Further examination of the engine and airframe revealed no evidence of any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
During the cabin examination, the carburetor heat control knob was found in the down or “OFF” position. The latch that locks the carburetor control knob in the down position was found engaged around the shaft of the control knob. The latch and its attachment bracket were bent upward. A review of the carburetor icing chart revealed that the helicopter was operating in an area conducive to serious icing at cruise power. It is likely that the pilot did not utilize carburetor heat, which resulted in the accumulation of ice in the carburetor and the subsequent loss of engine power.
Probable cause
A loss of engine power due to the pilot's failure to utilize carburetor heat while maneuvering. .
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record WPR12FA066
- Event ID
- 20111214X31105
- Case number
- WPR12FA066
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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: 0767b857abf42c2eb3640d76711493e0c17f8588ef1d2dd21561b9050953e19d; retrieved 2026-09-15T17:00:32.633Z.