Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Happy Jack, Arizona 86336
Thursday, July 17, 2003 13:05 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power during cruise flight, and the helicopter collided with high vegetation during an autorotative descent. Just before touchdown during the forced landing, engine power was restored; however, the pilot decided to concentrate on successfully completing the forced landing. The helicopter touched down in high vegetation and was substantially damaged. The power loss was not preceded by any auditory or visual warnings, and none occurred during the descent. Following recovery of the helicopter from the remote site, the engine was visually examined then placed into a test cell and run up. During the first engine run, the engine exhibited the following results: (1) normal start; (2) normal warm-up; (3) lean operation upon accelerating between 2,250 and 2,300 rpm with no fuel boost pump on; (4) upon turning on the test cell's fuel boost pump, the engine accelerated between 2,700 and 2,800 rpm with no hesitation. During the second engine run, with a carburetor from another Lycoming O-540 engine, the accident engine operated normally during run up to full power without the test cell's fuel boost pump turned on. Thereafter, the accident carburetor was examined, including a flow bench test, and no abnormalities were found that would have prevented the carburetor from functioning within prescribed design specifications. The reason for the excessively lean mixture/restricted fuel flow, which reduced the engine's available power, was not ascertained.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the partial loss of engine power due to an excessively lean mixture for undetermined reasons during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1305 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Happy Jack |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86336 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344941N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1111120W |
| 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 | 1256 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 294 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7011 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.36 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18489 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1703 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8329B |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA235 |
| 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 | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0219 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Jun 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1800 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William R. Stokely |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tulsa |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74146 |
| 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 | FLG |
| Departure City | Flagstaff |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAN |
| Destination City | Payson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2005 5:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |