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WPR11CA011

2010-10-12 · Long Beach, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LGB

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain an adequate drift control and skid clearance from the ground and the CFI's inadequate supervision while hovering, resulting in dynamic rollover.

Factual narrative

The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were practicing hovering. The student pilot had 6 hours total flight time, with all of his flight time being accrued in the accident make/model helicopter. During the hover, the right skid contacted the ground and the helicopter rolled onto its right side. The CFI reported that he delayed assuming control of the helicopter and allowed the helicopter to get too low during the maneuver. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were practicing hovering. The student pilot had 6 hours total flight time, with all of his flight time being accrued in the accident make/model helicopter. During the hover, the right skid contacted the ground and the helicopter rolled onto its right side. The CFI reported that he delayed assuming control of the helicopter and allowed the helicopter to get too low during the maneuver. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_WPR11CA011.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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