Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
O'neill, Nebraska 68763
Monday, September 16, 2002 21:35 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a complete loss of engine power during cruise flight at night. The pilot stated that during the flight, the engine failed, the emergency annunciator lights illuminated, and he felt a yaw due to the loss of full torque. He executed an autorotation to a bean field. The pilot stated that it was very dark and that depth perception was difficult and he flared too soon and "ran out of lift at about 10-12 feet above the ground." The helicopter subsequently impacted the ground. The main rotor blades sheared off the front right upper portion of the cabin and the tailboom. Examination of the engine at the accident site revealed that the N1 rotor system would not rotate. Subsequent examination revealed that the first stage turbine wheel had all of the blades broken off 0.2 to 0.4 inch above the rim at the leading edge and 0.1 to 0.15 inch above the rim at the trailing edge. Scanning electron microscope examination of the fractures revealed no fatigue progression. The fracture surface was oxidized and the macroscopic features were interdendritic, indicating that separation occurred in overload. A metallographic section of one of the blades was made. This section showed a loss of metal as a result of hot corrosion. Distinct spherical particles were observed ahead of the corrosion front, consistent with sulfadation. The chemistry of the spherical particles was found to be rich in sulfur. Examination of the second stage turbine wheel also showed features consistent with hot corrosion damage. Further examination of the submitted items showed that the microstructure, hardness and chemistry conformed to the engineering drawing requirements.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to turbine blade separation as a result of hot corrosion damage to the turbine blades. Contributing to the accident was the pilot misjudging the flare at the completion of the autorotation resulting in a hard landing. The dark night was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/16/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2135 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | O'Neill |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68763 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422909N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0983844W |
| 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 | 2130 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ONL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2031 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KONL 170230Z AUTO 17010KT 10SM CLR 19/08 A29 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 15067 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1234 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lincoln, Nebraska |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N500EK |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA285 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1190610D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 9 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2323 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Headwest Sky Operations, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 727 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Harvard |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60033 |
| 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 | FOD |
| Departure City | FORT DODGE |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ANW |
| Destination City | AINSWORTH |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 18 2004 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |