Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marblemount, Washington 98267
Thursday, July 24, 2003 19:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Once he arrived in the area of the lake where he was planning on camping, the pilot made two high reconnaissance passes in order to look the area over before descending to a lower level so he could take a closer look at possible camping sites along the lake's edge. The pilot completed a systems flow check prior to initiating a hover taxi over the lake, and then once the hover was established, the oil pressure and oil temperature was rechecked. The pilot then began "hovering down the middle of the lake," looking at possible landing sites, but ultimately, when he reached the far end of the lake, he decided that the best spot was at the other end where he had first passed over the shoreline. Just about the time he was getting ready to turn back, he noticed a gradual drop in engine rpm's, and the aircraft began to slowly descend toward the surface of the lake. Although he increased the throttle, he was unable to increase or stabilize the rpm, and the helicopter eventually settled into the water in a level and upright position. The rpm had initially been 3,200, but by the time the aircraft touched the surface of the water it had dropped to 2,400. Ultimately the aircraft came to rest upright on its skids in about six to eight feet of water, but the main rotor blades were damaged when they contacted the water's surface. As part of the investigative process, the older left magneto was removed from the aircraft and tested at various rpm’s (the right magneto was newly installed, and not removed for testing). During the subject testing, the left magneto performed erratically, and did not produce a consistent continuous spark at high rpm's. After the testing was terminated, the magneto was disassembled and inspected, but the specific reason for its inconsistent performance was not able to be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial failure of a magneto during hover taxi over water, leading to a forced landing in shallow water near the shoreline. Factors include the aircraft being over a lake at the time that the partial loss of power made it impossible to keep it airborne.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Marblemount |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98267 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483434N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1210901W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 15789 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N500HS |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA156 |
| 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 | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 170554 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | Jul 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 4137 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard L. Daniels |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bow |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98232 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BVS |
| Departure City | Skagit Regional |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Marblemount |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover - in ground effect |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2004 5:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |