Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Deland Muni-Sidney H Taylor Fi Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Deland, Florida 32724
Friday, May 10, 2002 13:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, while en route to Fernandina Beach, Florida, he observed an auto re-lite master caution indication on the annunciator panel. He diverted to Deland Airport to make a precautionary landing. On approach he observed an electronic control unit (ECU) failure indication. The pilot switched the ECU switch from auto to manual twice, and the engine started to over speed. He then rolled the throttle back twice, and received a "fuel flow fix" voice warning indication. The engine started to making loud "bangs" like a compressor stall. The pilot stated he tried to maintain forward airspeed to clear trees. As the helicopter cleared the trees and power lines, the pilot received a voice warning "low rotor". During the descent to land the pilot increased collective to arrest the descent. The "low rotor" warning light came on again and the helicopter landed hard. The main rotor blades came in contact with the tail boom and severed it from the airframe. According to the FADEC malfunction procedures, occasional electronic transients may produce a false ECU fail indication. If ECU fail indication persists after 2 reset attempts, place switch in MANUAL. With the twistgrip, manually control Np/Nr at 100%. According to an operational "NOTE", occasional RPM transients between 90% and 106.4% are allowable as long as the maximum or minimum RPM limits are not exceeded. The pilot is advised to land as soon as practical. During the approach the main rotor blades came in contact with the tail boom and severed it from the airframe. Inspection of the engine and engine accessories revealed no evidence of pre-impact part failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the FADEC malfunction checklist that resulted in the loss of rotor RPM, and the pilot's improper use of the flight controls during the precautionary landing that resulted in a hard landing. A factor was the malfunction of the FADEC unit for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/10/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Deland |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32724 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 290400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811704W |
| Event Location Airport | DELAND MUNI-SIDNEY H TAYLOR FI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DED |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 80 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DAB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 34 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1417 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13890 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 10 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N810LA |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA095 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | MD-600N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RN044 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 26 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 444 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Greg Arnette |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1810 North Indian River Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Symrna |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32169 |
| 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 | ORL |
| Departure City | Orlando |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 55J |
| Destination City | FERNANDINA BEAC |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 21 2003 2:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |