Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Haunstein Ultralight Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Shermans Dale, Pennsylvania 17090
Sunday, July 26, 1998 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After 45 minutes of flight, and on final approach, the engine lost power. The helicopter landed hard, the main rotor struck the tail boom, and the helicopter rolled over on its left side. Examination of the helicopter revealed fuel and oil were available, and the throttle linkage was intact. The pilot/owner had recently installed a Power Enhancement Package to the Rotax 582 UL DCDI engine, and adjusted the needle jets to produce suitable EGTs. Based on subsequent research, the pilot stated that engine problems could have occurred going from half, to full throttle rapidly because the main jet was too restrictive to allow enough fuel to pass through quickly. The NTSB database revealed 23 Mini-500 accidents in 1997 and 1998. Within that list, 11 involved a loss of engine power. The Rotax 582 operator's manual stated: ' Danger! This engine, by its design, is subject to sudden stoppage! Engine stoppage can result in crash landings. Such crash landings can lead to serious bodily injury or death. Never fly the aircraft equipped with this engine at locations, airspeeds, altitudes, or other circumstances from which a successful no-power landing cannot be made, after sudden engine stoppage.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The builder/pilot's carburetor modification that did not allow for rapid fuel demand, which resulted in a loss of engine power of final approach.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SHERMANS DALE |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 17090 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HAUNSTEIN ULTRALIGHT PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0PA2 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 600 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MDT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 310 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| 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) | 2100 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1194 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 27 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1220 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N805JJ |
| NTSB Number | NYC98LA154 |
| 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 | JOHNSON |
| Aircraft Model | REVOLUTION MINI-500 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | REVOLUTION |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0236 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 840 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 52 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JEFFREY S. JOHNSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 15 MILLERS GAP ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MARYSVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 17053 |
| 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 | NA |
| Departure City | KLINGERSTOWN |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 0PA2 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 11 |
| Runway Length | 500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |