14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, February 19, 2012 in Antioch, CA
Aircraft: ROBINSON HELICOPTER R22 BETA, registration: N7508Y
Injuries: 1 Minor,2 Uninjured.
NTSB Identification: WPR12LA109B
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, February 19, 2012 in Antioch, CA
Aircraft: BEECH 35-A33, registration: N433JC
Injuries: 1 Minor,2 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On February 19, 2012, about 1845 Pacific standard time, a Beech 35-A33 airplane, N433JC, and a Robinson R22 Beta helicopter, N7508Y, collided midair near Antioch, California. The certificated private pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a local flight. The certificated commercial pilot was operating the helicopter under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 as a solo cross-country flight. The pilot of the helicopter sustained minor injuries, and the pilot and passenger of the airplane were uninjured. The helicopter was receiving flight following at the time of the accident, and departed Hayward Executive Airport, Hayward, California about 1815, with a planned destination of Sacramento Executive Airport, Sacramento, California. The airplane departed Byron Airport, Byron, California, about 1835. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and neither aircraft filed a flight plan.
The airplane pilot departed Byron with the intention of performing three night landings, and 30 minutes of flight over Antioch and the Sacramento Delta area. They climbed to 2,500 feet mean sea level (msl), on a west heading, and were both looking ahead at airplane lights about 15-20 miles away. The pilot pointed out the local power station, and a few seconds later, they felt a collision. Neither occupants observed another aircraft prior to the collision, and the pilot was concerned that they may have struck a tower or bird. The airplane immediately began to shudder, and roll to the right. The pilot looked to the right wing and could see a hole, and a piece of tubing protruding from the leading edge. He established airplane control, and began a 180-degree climbing left turn to 3,000 feet. He reported that his landing lights were on throughout the flight, and that although his transponder was switched on and set to 1200, he had not established radio contact with any air traffic control facility prior to the collision.
The pilot elected to return to Byron Airport, and while en route he established radio contact with Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (NORCAL Approach). He maintained straight and level flight by utilizing continuous left aileron and rudder control inputs. During the final approach segment, the propeller speed began to decrease and he was unable to maintain altitude. As the airplane began to slow down, it began to pitch to the right despite his left control inputs. The airplane subsequently landed hard in a field short of the runway.
The helicopter pilot departed Hayward for the nonstop flight, with a route that was to follow highways to Concord and Antioch, and ultimately Sacramento. She contacted NORCAL approach for flight following once she had reached Dublin, and was issued a discreet transponder code. Once over Concord, the NORCAL Approach controller transferred her to Travis approach. She continued the flight, and a short time later received a traffic advisory from the Travis controller. She did not recall the specifics of the advisory, but remembers performing a scan to her 3 o'clock position. A short time later, she caught site of the silhouette of an airplane and a propeller at her 4 o'clock position. She performed an evasive maneuver to the left, and then felt the helicopter being struck. She did not know the extent of the damage, and as such, elected to immediately perform a precautionary landing. She choose a lit highway as a landing spot; however, as she approached, she observed multiple automobiles and diverted to a spot adjacent to the highway. Upon landing, the helicopter rolled onto its left side, sustaining substantial damage to the main cabin and the tail cone, which became separated midspan.
Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that a forward portion of helicopter skid tube had become imbedded about midspan in the leading edge of the right wing. Additionally, a 6-inch-long tip section had become separated from one of the airplane's three propeller blades.
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Authorities have identified one of the pilots involved in the Sunday night collision over the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in which an airplane clipped a helicopter near Rio Vista.
Ronald Albert Gawer, 49, of Brentwood, was at the controls of the Beechcraft Bonanza airplane that had made contact with a Robinson R22 helicopter shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, according to lead operations specialist Mark Grosenheider of the Byron Airport in Contra Costa County.
Gawer crash-landed his aircraft short of the runway at Byron, Grosenheider said. He had a passenger with him, and both were shaken up in the crash, but neither was hurt seriously, according to Grosenheider.
No identification has been available on the pilot of the damaged helicopter that landed on Sherman Island near Highway 160, according to the Sacramento Sheriff's Department. Grosenheider said the helicopter had taken off out of the municipal airport in Hayward. The pilot, a 29-year-old woman, also sustained minor injuries, sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos said Sunday.
The collision is now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Sacramento sheriff's officials said the crash apparently took place over Antioch.
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The blades are removed from the remains of a helicopter Monday Feb. 20, 2012, near Antioch, Calif. A helicopter and a small plane were forced into emergency landings Sunday after they clipped each other, leaving the two pilots with minor injuries.
(AP Photo/The Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group, Susan Tripp Pollard)
The blades are removed from the remains of a helicopter Monday Feb. 20, 2012, near Antioch, Calif. A helicopter and a small plane were forced into emergency landings Sunday after they clipped each other, leaving the two pilots with minor injuries.
(AP Photo/The Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group, Susan Tripp Pollard)
A crashed helicopter is lifted Monday Feb. 20, 2012, near Antioch, Calif. A helicopter and a small plane were forced into emergency landings Sunday after they clipped each other, leaving the two pilots with minor injuries. (AP Photo/The Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group, Susan Tripp Pollard)
SAN FRANCISCO — The owner of a helicopter flight school whose student was involved in a mid-air collision said Monday the pilot narrowly escaped what could have been a deadly crash after the chopper was hit from behind by a small plane.
Instead, the pilots of both the Robinson R22 helicopter and Beechcraft Bonanza plane escaped with minor injuries after making rough emergency landings Sunday evening just north of Antioch, about halfway between Oakland and Sacramento.
The chopper pilot, a 29-year-old woman, is an experienced commercial airplane pilot who was logging night-flying hours alone toward a helicopter license, said Wayne Prodger, owner of Vertical CFI Helicopters in Hayward.
The woman told Prodger she briefly saw the plane behind her around 7 p.m. The next thing she knew, it struck the chopper's skids and she was falling to the ground, Prodger told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
"A few feet higher, it would've been catastrophic because the plane would've crashed right into the copter," he said.
Prodger declined to provide his student's name, saying she's still shaken up from the incident.
There are about 12 mid-air collisions each year in the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
While infrequent, the mishaps are often deadly, said Peter Leffe, a Los Angeles-based aviation accident investigator.
"Both pilots are exceedingly lucky to be alive," he said of the weekend collision. "They can count their blessings."
Leffe, who has been flying for more than 46 years, said landings and departures have the greatest potential for accidents.
"It doesn't mean you don't have to be vigilant at all times," said Leffe, a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators. "You're constantly scanning the skies for other aircraft."
The helicopter set down just off state Highway 160, while the single-engine plane made a rough landing in a field just short of a nearby airport, authorities said.
Prodger said the woman's flight experience helped keep damage and injury to a minimum.
"The copter flipped over and she got herself out and turned the fuel off. In the face of all adversity, she was calm and cool enough to turn the switches off," Prodger said.
"From all accounts, she did everything perfectly to get the copter down," he added.
Two people were aboard the plane, said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman. The passenger was not injured.
Both pilots were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos said. The woman had cuts to her hands from barbed wire she encountered while climbing out of the chopper, according to Prodger.
The 1961 six-seat Beechcraft plane is registered to Ronald A. Gawer of Brentwood in Contra Costa County, records show.
Gawer did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
