Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dorchester County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Summerville, South Carolina 29484
Sunday, June 7, 1992 5:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT AND OBSERVER WERE TO FLY THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE HELICOPTER FROM SUMMERVILLE TO CHARLESTON (15 MILES TO THE SOUTHEAST) FOLLOWING MAINTENANCE WORK. WHEN THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT ARRIVE AS SCHEDULED, A SEARCH WAS INITIATED. THE HELICOPTER WAS FOUND 4 DAYS LATER IN A FORESTED SWAMP, ABOUT .6 MILE NORTHWEST OF THE AIRPORT. THE WRECKAGE WAS FOUND UPRIGHT, DESTROYED BY FIRE. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF IMPACT WITH A LARGE TREE AT ABOUT 70 FEET AGL. AN INSPECTION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF A PRE-EXISTING MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. THE PILOT HAD ABOUT 145 HOURS OF HELICOPTER FLIGHT TIME, BUT WAS NOT INSTRUMENT RATED, NOR WAS THE AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATED FOR IFR. NUMEROUS LOCAL RESIDENTS REPORTED HEAVY FOG CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT; ONE PERSON WHO REPORTEDLY HEARD THE CRASH ESTIMATED THE VISIBILITY TO BE ABOUT 50-100 YARDS IN FOG. DARKNESS ALSO PREVAILED AT THE REPORTED TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE SAFETY BOARD BELIEVES THAT THE PILOT INADVERTENTLY ENTERED IMC CONDITIONS AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO NAVIGATE BACK TO THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT WHEN THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE TREES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INADVERTENT FLIGHT INTO IMC, WHICH RESULTED IN AN IN FLIGHT COLLISION WITH TREES. FACTORS WERE THE OBSCURED SKY AND FOGGY WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND THE NIGHT LIGHTING CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/7/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SUMMERVILLE |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29484 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DORCHESTER COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 71S |
| 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 | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 54 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 600 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CHS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 46 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2555 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 47387 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N86262 |
| NTSB Number | ATL92GA121 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ENSTROM |
| Aircraft Model | 280FX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 280FX |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2070 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 5 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 123 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLESTON CTY. SHERIFFS OFF. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3505 PINEHAVEN DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHARLESTON HTS. |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29405 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CHARLESTON CTY. SHERIFFS OFF. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3505 PINEHAVEN DRIVE |
| Operator City | CHARLESTON HTS. |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 29405 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 71S |
| Departure City | SUMMERVILLE |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHS |
| Destination City | CHARLESTON |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |