Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Wilmington, Delaware 21240
Tuesady, November 14, 1989 16:30 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

WHILE EN ROUTE TO THE DESTINATION AIRPORT, THE CFI AND STUDENT WERE PERFORMING THE PRE-LANDING CHECKLIST WHEN THE STUDENT WAS INSTRUCTED TO PUT THE MIXTURE CONTROL IN THE FULL RICH POSITION. INSTEAD OF ADVANCING THE MIXTURE CONTROL THE STUDENT PULLED THE MIXTURE TO IDLE CUT-OFF. ENGINE POWER WAS LOST AND THE CFI INTIATED A FORCED LANDING TO A FIELD. THE ONLY FIELD AVAILABLE WAS ROUGH AND COVERED WITH 3 TO 4 FT TALL WEEDS. DURING THE LANDING, THE RIGHT SKID DUG INTO THE TERRAIN AND THE HELICOPTER ROLLED OVER ONTO ITS RIGHT SIDE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AS A RESULT OF THE STUDENT PILOT INADVERTENTLY PULLING THE MIXTURE CONTROL TO THE IDLE CUT-OFF POSITION, AND THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE ROUGH AND UNEVEN TERRAIN.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/14/1989
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City WILMINGTON
Event State DELAWARE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 21240
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 11
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 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation --
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 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 10000
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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1852
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 14 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1954
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 40944
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 1:11PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8627J
NTSB Number BFO90LA011
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 F-28F
Aircraft Series Identifier F-28F
Aircraft Serial Number 760
Certified Max Gross Weight 1950
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection 24
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BARBARA W OHLIGER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 815 ROCK LANE
Aircraft Owner City NEWARK
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19713
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name BARBARA OHLIGER
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 815 ROCK LANE
Operator City NEWARK
Operator State DE
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 19713
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 N92
Departure City MIDDLETOWN
Departure State DE
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ILG
Destination City WILMINGTON
Destination State DE
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 --