Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jim Kelly Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lexington, Nebraska 68850
Wednesday, June 3, 1998 19:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot/builder, the homebuilt helicopter was in cruise at 1000 feet agl when he initiated a 200-300 foot per minute descent. After approximately one minute, at an altitude of approximately 500-700 feet agl, the engine lost power. He executed an autorotation and forced landing into a corn field. The pilot stated that the helicopter had some forward velocity on landing, causing one of the skids to sink and get caught in the soft terrain. The helicopter subsequently nosed over and was substantially damaged. The temperature and dewpoint on the surface was reported to be 42 degrees F and 38 degrees F respectively. According to carburetor icing charts, the accident flight was operating in conditions favorable to carburetor icing. Post accident investigation revealed that the carburetor heat system was operating. The pilot stated that during the descent phase of flight, the engine temperatures were indicating in the low end of the green arc, but he did not notice the carburetor temperature gauge indication. The Vice President of RotorWay, International agreed to issue an Advisory Bulletin to all registered owners of RotorWay helicopters having the RI-162 engine, informing them of the background of this accident, as well as alternate way of carburetor icing prevention and avoidance.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An improper autorotation by the pilot in command. Factors contributing to this accident were the accumulation of ice in the carburetor resulting in a total loss of engine power, and the soft terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/3/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | LEXINGTON |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68850 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JIM KELLY FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LXN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1786 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 674 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 4 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N132RS |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA190 |
| 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 | Rotorway |
| Aircraft Model | EXEC 90 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | EXEC 90 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5221 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1425 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 40 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RONALD A. STAHLA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 804 PLUM CREEK PARKWAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | LEXINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68850 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | LOOMIS |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1845 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LXN |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |