Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Attica, Michigan 48412
Wednesday, October 3, 2001 15:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter sustained substantial damage when it impacted trees and terrain following a reported in-flight loss of engine power during cruise. A witness, who was a pilot, stated, "Low rotor - R.P.M. Low - Power[.] Observed flying due North from P.T. Auto Sales." Another witness stated that the aircraft was heading northwest. The witness said that the helicopter was leaning to its left side, it appeared the motor stopped, and the helicopter went straight down. The Lapeer County Sheriff's report stated, "[The Arcadia Township Fire Chief] said that he was at the scene of the crash and indicated that he had not smelled any fuel and seen no signs of it leaking." The pilot held a student pilot certificate and an expired third-class medical certificate. He listed on that medical that he had 200 total hours of flight time. The helicopter came to rest on the nose of its cabin assembly. The front of the cabin assembly was crushed aft. The three rotor blades were found attached to the hub. The tail rotor assembly was found intact. Continuity was established to the flight control surfaces. Control continuity was established to the engine. The engine produced a thumb compression at all cylinders. The magnetos produced spark when the engine was rotated with the master switch in the on position. The fuel servo screen was found clean. A liquid was found exiting the unplugged servo screen when the electric boost pump was turned on. About an ounce of a blue colored fluid was recovered from the fuel strainer. Both fuel tanks were found compromised. The airframe revealed no signs of fuel staining. There was no smell of fuel at the accident site. Sections of ground around the cabin were dug up. The ground did not have any smell of fuel. No pre-impact anomalies were found. A fueling log, marked "100 LL", was found at the departure heliport. A fuel log entry dated October 3, 2001, had a "before" entry that stated, "38.6" and its "after" entry stated, "69.7".
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The reported loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion during cruise flight, the pilot not performing an autorotation, the pilot not maintaining rotor RPM during his emergency descent, and the pilot not maintaining control of the helicopter. A factor was the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Attica |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48412 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 424000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823735W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PTK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 980 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 28000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13749 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1440 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Detroit, MI, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N137E |
| NTSB Number | CHI02FA001 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Enstrom |
| Aircraft Model | F-28A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert A. Ward |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5743 Meldrum Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48004 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 6MI8 |
| Departure City | ALMONT |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | D95 |
| Destination City | LAPEER |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 7 2003 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |