ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 149079
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| Date: | Monday 10 September 2012 |
| Time: | 15:45 |
| Type: |  Robinson R22 Beta |
| Owner/operator: | Helicopter Services Inc |
| Registration: | N281RG |
| MSN: | 4250 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2007 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2004 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-360-J2A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 1 mile East of Highway 90, Near Crosby Freeway, Houston, Texas -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Baytown Airport, Baytown, Texas (HPY/KHPY) |
| Hooks Airport, Houston, Harris County, Texas (KDWH) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On September 10, 2012, about 15:45 CDT (Central Daylight Time), N281RG, a Robinson R22 Beta helicopter, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during a low-altitude maneuvering flight in Houston, Texas. The commercial pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Helicopter Services, Incorporated, Spring, Texas. Day visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 aerial photography flight. The helicopter had departed Baytown Airport (HPY), Baytown, Texas, approximately 15:00 CDT.
The helicopter originally departed David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH), Houston, Texas, about 12:00 CDT, and flew in the local area before landing at HPY around 14:25 CDT. Fuelling records indicate the helicopter was serviced with 22.9 gallons of 100LL fuel at 14:29 CDT. Around 15:00 CDT, the Baytown Airport manager saw the pilot and the passenger depart toward the southwest. Approximately 45 minutes later, the helicopter was observed by several witnesses maneuvering over the steel pipe yard near the accident location.
A witness was driving west on Highway 90 toward the beltway when he first observed the helicopter. He said it was about a mile away and at first he thought it was a remote controlled helicopter. The witness said the helicopter was “way up there” and estimated that it was about 400-500 feet above the ground. The helicopter was spinning slowly (he did not recall what direction it was turning) around the main rotor shaft and was descending vertically about 70-80 miles per hour as if it had "lost power." There was no smoke or parts coming off the helicopter as it descended. The main rotor blades were turning "slower than expected" and were not deflected upward. The witness said that the tail rotor did not appear to be turning. The helicopter then impacted the ground, which resulted in a large dust cloud. The witness stopped his vehicle and ran towards the helicopter. After he negotiated a chain link fence, he and another witness used fire extinguishers to contain the post-impact fire, which he described being more intense on the right side of the helicopter, until the fire department arrived.
Another witness was driving east on Highway 90 toward the beltway when he first observed the helicopter about a mile away. It was 70 to 100 feet-high above the ground and was slowly spinning counter-clockwise around the main rotor shaft and was in a slow vertical descent. The witness said the helicopter seemed to move in “slow-motion.” When it was approximately 40 to 50 feet above the ground, the helicopter’s descent rate increased rapidly before it impacted the ground. The witness thought the pilot was trying to land and he did not observe any smoke coming from the helicopter prior to impact. He noted that the main rotor blades were turning “pretty slow” and it seemed “like he lost power.” The body of the helicopter was level and the main rotor blades were not deflected upward. The witness could not hear the helicopter prior to the impact, which occurred just as he was stepping out of his vehicle. After the impact, he observed a large dust plume as he was running to the steel yard. Seconds later, as he was trying to crawl under a chain link fence, he saw a fireball coming from the helicopter. He and another responder used fire extinguishers to contain the post-impact fire until the fire department arrived.
Two witnesses, who were driving together westbound on Highway 90, stated they first observed the helicopter when it was about 1 to 1.5 miles away. They said the helicopter was spinning counter-clockwise and was approximately 75-feet-high above the ground. One of the witnesses thought the pilot was attempting to avoid the highway and drifted over toward the steel pipe storage yard. Neither witness saw any smoke or debris trailing the helicopter and did not hear the helicopter prior to impact. One of the witnesses said the helicopter descended quickly (about 30 seconds). The nose of the helicopter was pointed down toward the ground and the main rotor blades did not look like they were moving.
Another witness was working on a construction site located about a 1/4-mile from where he first observed the helicopter. He said the helicopter was hovering over a building near the accident site “real low.” All appeared to be normal. The witness lost sight of the helicopter for about 10 minutes due to work related reasons before he saw the helicopter a second time. This time, the helicopter was hovering around 100 to 150-feet-high above the ground over the steel pipe yard. The nose of the helicopter was pointed toward the north. He could not hear the helicopter from his location. The witness said that the helicopter hovered for approximately 1 to 1.5 minutes before it “leaned sideways” to the east and the “tail came around on him.” The helicopter then began to turn to the right slowly as it began a slow vertical descent in a slight nose-down and to-the-right attitude. The witness said the helicopter spun 4 to 4.5 times in a “wide-motion” as it descended “straight down” at a speed of 10-15 mph, as if the pilot was trying to correct for the situation. He said the main rotor blades were turning and deflected slightly upward, but he could not estimate how fast. He never looked at the tail rotor. The witness said from the time the helicopter entered the right turn to the time it impacted the ground it was about 10-15 seconds. Once on the ground, he could still see the main rotor blades. Approximately 30 seconds later, he saw that the helicopter had caught on fire and called 9-1-1 emergency
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter after a loss of engine power. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined because examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded operation.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
2. FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=281RG
3. http://helihub.com/2012/09/10/10-sep-12-robinson-r22-crosby-us-texas-2f/
4. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Two-killed-in-helicopter-crash-in-northeast-3854211.php
5. https://abc13.com/archive/8805197/
6. http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/09/robinson-r22-2-dead-in-helicopter-crash.html
7. https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/495226-two-dead-houston-helicopter-crash.html
8. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4297107/in-re-robinson-helicopter-company-inc/
Location
Media:
Two dead in Robinson R22 Beta (N281RG) accident, Near Crosby, TX http://t.co/bvQMApmR
— Aviation Safety Net (@AviationSafety) September 11, 2012
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Sep-2012 09:13 | Geno | Added |
| 19-Sep-2012 12:57 | Geno | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Oct-2016 18:59 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Oct-2016 19:00 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 10-Oct-2016 19:08 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 28-Nov-2017 13:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Aug-2018 01:19 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
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