Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Lucie County Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Pierce, Florida 33946
Tuesady, September 11, 1990 10:39 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE CFI STATED THAT HE WAS TEACHING LOW ROTOR RPM RECOVERY TECHNIQUES DURING CLIMB OUT AFTER TAKEOFF. THE STUDENT WAS TO TAKE THE CONTROLS & RECOVER THE HELICOPTER TO A 4 FT HOVER. AT 30 FT, WITH THE ROTOR RPM AT 2,900, THE STUDENT TOOK CONTROL & OPENED THE THROTTLE BUT PULLED COLLECTIVE. THE ENG RPM DROPPED BELOW 2,500. THE CFI TOOK THE CONTROLS, VERIFIED THAT THE THROTTLE WAS OPENED & LOWERED COLLECTIVE. DURING THE RUN-ON LANDING AFTER TOUCHDOWN, THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES CONTACTED THE TAIL BOOM. EXAM OF THE ENG BY A MECHANIC WITH INSPECTION AUTHORIZATION REVEALED THAT ONE OF THE PACKING SEALS WHICH SEAL THE DISTRIBUTION ZONE PIPE TO THE INLET MANIFOLD, SEPARATED FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS RESULTING IN THE PARTIAL LOSS OF ENG POWER.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO SEPARATION OF THE PACKING SEAL WHICH SEALS THE DISTRIBUTION ZONE PIPE TO THE INLET MANIFOLD, FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS RESULTING IN A HARD LANDING.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1039 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | FORT PIERCE |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33946 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ST. LUCIE COUNTY INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FPR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1039 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1256 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 11 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42435 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 5:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96168 |
| NTSB Number | MIA90LA182 |
| 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 | HILLER |
| Aircraft Model | OH-23C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | OH-23C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 55-4129 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 88 |
| Airframe Hours | 3742 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JIM BORTNEM ENT. INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 55 N. 3RD ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | FARGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | ND |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 58102 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | COASTAL AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3915 ST. LUCIE BLVD. |
| Operator City | FORT PIERCE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 34946 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1034 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |