Gwinnett County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lawrenceville, Georgia 30245
Wednesday, April 13, 1988 11:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE INSTRUCTOR REPORTED THAT HE INITIATED A SIM ENGINE FAILURE DURING CLIMB AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL, AS PART OF THE RECURRENCY FLIGHT. THE PILOT INITIATED AN AUTOROTATION, AT ABOUT 50 FT AGL, THE RATE OF DESCENT INCREASED AND THE THROTTLE WAS ROLLED IN TO ARREST THE DESCENT. ACCORDING TO THE CHECK PLT, THE ENGINE FAILED TO RESPOND, AND A FLARE WAS INITIATED IN AN ATTEMPT TO SLOW THE HELO. THE HELO SUBSEQUENTLY IMPACTED THE TERRAIN IN A TAIL-LOW ATTITUDE AND ROLLED OVER. THE PVT PLT NOTED THAT HE & THE INSTRUCTOR HAD PERFORMED 3 PRIOR SIM ENGINE FAILURES SHORTLY BEFORE, AND HAD EXECUTED A POWERED RECOVERY TO A HOVER AFTER EACH MANEUVER. EXAM OF THE HELO REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF PRE-EXISTING MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. THE FUEL-INJECTED ENGINE STARTED AND RAN NORMAL AFTER 3-4 START ATTEMPTS, AND RESPONDED TO THROTTLE INPUTS IN A NORMAL MANNER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/13/1988
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1115
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City LAWRENCEVILLE
Event State GEORGIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 30245
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport GWINNETT COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 17A
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 1036
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
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) 2200
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 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1671
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 13 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1126
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 37843
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 11:40AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42JW
NTSB Number ATL88LA215
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 HUGHES
Aircraft Model 269C
Aircraft Series Identifier 269C
Aircraft Serial Number 0521
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 4134
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MID-STATE/EXECUTIVE HELIC.INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1537 BEAVER RUIN ROAD
Aircraft Owner City NORCROSS
Aircraft Owner State GA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 30093
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name MID STATE/EXECUTIVE HELCOPTER
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1537 BEAVER RUIN ROAD
Operator City NORCROSS
Operator State GA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 30093
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 No
Departure Airport Code 05GA
Departure City NORCROSS
Departure State GA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1015
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
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 --