Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Council Bluffs Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501
Sunday, August 31, 1997 12:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE), reported that he was administering a Commercial, Rotorcraft-Helicopter Practical Test to an applicant (student). The DPE instructed the student to perform a 'simulated engine failure' from 450 agl over runway 13, and the DPE initiated the maneuver by reducing the throttle to idle. The student did not respond, and the rotor RPM decreased. After assessing the situation, the DPE took control of the helicopter. He tried to recover from the maneuver by decreasing the collective to the full down position, increasing the throttle, and applying slight forward cyclic. The DPE was unable to recover from the maneuver, and the helicopter impacted in a slight nose low attitude, then it bounced and came to rest on its left side. A witness to the accident said that he saw the helicopter at 50 to 75 feet above the ground before its forward speed stopped and it entered a steep, spiral descent. After reaching the accident site, the witness heard the student ask the DPE what had happened and if something failed. The DPE's response was, 'No...it was me, I failed.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
inadequate supervision by the designated examiner by failing to ensure a timely autorotation recovery was initiated. A related factor was: the student pilot allowed the rotor rpm to diminish after the examiner simulated a loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | COUNCIL BLUFFS |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 51501 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | COUNCIL BLUFFS MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CBF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 120 |
| Airport Elevation | 1252 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1205 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CBF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1252 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1447 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1709 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7058T |
| NTSB Number | CHI97LA277 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 269A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 269A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1081009 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | IOWA WESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2700 COLLEGE RD PO BOX 4C |
| Aircraft Owner City | COUNCIL BLUFFS |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 51502 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CBF |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CBF |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 4100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |