Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Indianapolis, Indiana 46206
Saturday, October 2, 1999 10:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that prior to initiating the flight he conducted a 'run-up.' He said, during the magneto check the engine ran rough and exceeded the normal magneto drop. He said he continued to run the engine at high RPM and leaned the fuel mixture for a minute. He said he then conducted another 'run-up' and the magneto drop was within specified limits.. He stated that during the initial climb the engine began to 'pop' and the rotor RPM was dropping. He said he elected to attempt a turn to the heliport; however, due to the continued loss of power he elected to conduct an autorotational landing in a gravel construction area. During the autorotational landing the helicopter landed hard and received substantial damage. Subsequent to the accident an examination of the helicopter and engine was conducted. The magneto and harness were examined and no discrepancies were found. All the spark plugs were removed and examined. The bottom spark plug from the #2 cylinder was oil fouled and did not test fire. The top spark plug from the same cylinder (#2) fired with a weak and intermittent spark. All the other spark plugs test fired. No additional anomalies were found in the helicopter or engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's attempted operation of the helicopter with known deficiencies, and his improper autorotation to landing. Factors were one fouled spark plug and another partially failed spark plug in the same cylinder, and the construction area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/2/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1040 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | INDIANAPOLIS |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46206 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| 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 | 956 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 797 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1570 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 4 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 4 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N602H |
| NTSB Number | CHI00LA002 |
| 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 | Enstrom |
| Aircraft Model | EN-28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | EN-28 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1077 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 29 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 59 |
| Airframe Hours | 3272 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HAWK, ROBERT H. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11545 LARKSPUR LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARMEL |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46032 |
| 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 | IN03 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| 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 | -- |