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MIA93LA004

1992-10-05 · NAPLES, Florida, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport APF

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INCORRECT AIRSPEED, INSUFFICIENT AIRSPEED, AND FAILURE OF THE PILOT IN COMMAND TO PERFORM THE CORRECT EMERGENCY PROCEDURE FOLLOWING THE IN FLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS SELF INDUCED PRESSURE BY THE PILOT IN COMMAND.

Factual narrative

THE PLT STATED THAT DURING HIS FIRST PASS WHILE OVER TREES, FOR A PHOTOGRAPHIC RUN, THE HELICOPTER EXPERIENCED A SLIGHT YAWING TENDENCY. DURING THE SECOND PASS AT THE SAME AIRSPEED BUT AT A LOWER ALTITUDE (BETWEEN 25 AND 50 FT ABOVE THE TREES) THE HELICOPTER ENTERED AN UNCOMMANDED RT YAW. HE LOWERED THE COLLECTIVE CONTROL AND PUSHED THE CYCLIC BUT DID NOT ADJUST THE THROTTLE. THE SPINNING DESCENT CONTINUED UNTIL IMPACT WITH THE TREES THEN THE GROUND. EXAM OF THE DAMAGED TAIL ROTOR BLADES BY AN FAA AIRWORTHINESS INSPECTOR INDICATE EVIDENCE OF ROTATION AT IMPACT. THE PLT'S BOSS WAS THE PHOTOGRAPHER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_MIA93LA004.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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