Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Louis Downtown Parks Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cahokia, Illinois 62206
Saturday, September 19, 1998 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness watched the helicopter as it climbed out after takeoff. The witness said that the helicopter was higher than the telephone lines which ran northeast of the airport. 'He was level and climbing, going away from me when all of a sudden, the sound (engine sound) went quiet, followed by a pop. It was not a loud pop.' The helicopter began a shallow descent. At about 30 to 40 feet above the field, the helicopter 'leveled out,' but 'kept coming down.' The witness said he saw the helicopter 'hit' and then 'cartwheel.' Examination of the helicopter's engine revealed scoring marks on the power-takeoff cylinder (front cylinder) piston, and impact marks in the head. Small metallic particles were embedded in the piston head. The power-takeoff cylinder wall showed scuff marks, and the cylinder head showed impact marks. The two power-takeoff spark plugs' showed no gap at the electrodes, and impact marks. No other anomalies were revealed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to cold seizure of the power-takeoff cylinder. A factor contributing to the accident was the power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/19/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | CAHOKIA |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62206 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ST. LOUIS DOWNTOWN PARKS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CPS |
| 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 | 345 |
| Airport Elevation | 413 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 304 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 605 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2556 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1709 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 21 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N611AB |
| NTSB Number | CHI98FA353 |
| 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 | Barklage |
| Aircraft Model | REVOLUTION MINI 500 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | REVOLUTION |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0294 |
| 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 | Jun 30 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 96 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALLEN G. BARKLAGE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1146 CROOKED CREEK DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ST. CHARLES |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63304 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CPS |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1323 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3SQ |
| Destination City | ST. CHARLES |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| 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 | -- |