Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lakeland Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lakeland, Florida 33811
Sunday, February 9, 1992 15:55 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PRIVATE PILOT WAS ON FINAL APPROACH FOR LANDING IN VFR CONDITIONS WHEN THE ENGINE SUSTAINED A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. THE PILOT ENTERED AUTOROTATION. AT 30-40 FEET AGL A DECELERATION WAS INITIATED AND COLLECTIVE PITCH WAS APPLIED AT 3-7 FEET AGL. THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN HARD WITH FORWARD MOVEMENT AND THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES COLLIDED WITH THE TAILBOOM. THE HELICOPTER SKIDDED FORWARD AND THE TIP OF THE LEFT SKID BECAME IMBEDDED IN A MOUND OF DIRT. THE HELICOPTER ROLLED OVER ON ITS LEFT SIDE SUSTAINING SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. THE PRIVATE PILOT WAS NOT INJURED. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRFRAME BY THE FAA AND THE LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT REVEALED THE LEFT SKID SEPARATED FROM THE FUSELAGE AT THE WELD JOINT ON THE SKID SUPPORT STRUT. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE BY A FIELD REPRESENTATIVE FOR ROTORWAY INTERNATIONAL FOR THE REGISTERED OWNER REVEALED AN EXHAUST VALVE ON THE NUMBER 2 CYLINDER HAD FAILED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S IMPROPER APPLICATION OF CYCLIC AND COLLECTIVE PITCH CONTROL DURING AN AUTOROTATIVE LANDING. THIS RESULTED IN A HARD LANDING, COLLISION OF THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES WITH THE TAILBOOM, AND SUBSEQUENT ROLL OVER OF THE HELICOPTER. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER CAUSED BY A TOTAL FAILURE OF THE ENGINE ASSEMBY EXHAUST VALVE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/9/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1555 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LAKELAND |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33811 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LAKELAND REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAL |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1544 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 45899 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 2:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N618VN |
| NTSB Number | MIA92LA082 |
| 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 | BURCH |
| Aircraft Model | ROTORWAY EXEC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | ROTORWAY E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3480 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1300 |
| 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 | Jan 9 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 255 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RONALD W.CASE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5525 SCOTT LAKE DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKELAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33813 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RONALD W.CASE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 5525 SCOTT LAKE DRIVE |
| Operator City | LAKELAND |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33813 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Landing |
| 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 | -- |