Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spokane, Washington 99311
Saturday, October 5, 1996 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot began the takeoff in the helicopter while giving a ride to a passenger at a local festival. About 100 feet above the ground, the engine began to run rough and quit. The helicopter, which was not insured, was damaged when the pilot initiated an emergency descent and impacted trees. The operator claimed that the fuel in the helicopter, his fuel truck, and his ground supply tank had been contaminated with jet fuel prior to the accident. Subsequent NTSB testing revealed that the fuel could not have been contaminated, and that jet fuel must have been added to the helicopter and the operator's self-tested fuel samples after the accident. The engine was examined in detail and tested by NTSB. No evidence of damage due to jet fuel contamination was found. The engine initially ran rough due to a restricted fuel nozzle, then ran within specifications (no turbocharger) after the nozzle was changed. The nozzle restriction was not found. Maintenance discrepancies such as a leaking turbocharger, improperly installed fuel nozzles, crimped fuel vent line, and a separated magneto cap were found, but no conclusive evidence associated with the accident power loss was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/5/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SPOKANE |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99311 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GEG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2372 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1937 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 5 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N574H |
| NTSB Number | SEA97FA003 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Enstrom |
| Aircraft Model | F-28C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | F-28C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 361 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 30 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 1028 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CUSTOM AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6423 EAST RUTTER AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SPOKANE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99212 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |