Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Vandenberg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ruskin, Florida 33570
Sunday, December 7, 2003 15:41 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was dispatched on a routine police call and was circling at 500 feet above ground level when the second pilot felt a reduction in engine power and noted a split in the rotor and turbine tachometers. After the throttle position was checked, the pilot-in-command realized that there was a reduction in engine power as the engine rpm went to idle. The pilot lowered the collective to enter an autorotation descent at 60 knots. The helicopter collided with the ground in a marshy area with a tail low attitude. The engine continued to run at idle power until the crew shut down the engine using the throttle and fuel valve handle. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident. Examination of accident site revealed the wreckage crashed in a densely vegetated and marshy area, three miles east of Ruskin, Florida and 18 miles south of Tampa, Florida. Examination of the aircraft revealed damage to the bottom of the fuselage, one main rotor blade was severed three and a half feet from blade-retaining bolt, both pitch change links fractured, the tail boom severed just forward of the horizontal stabilizers, one tail rotor blade was bent 90-degrees near the root of blade and the lower leading edge of the aft vertical fin was damaged. It was also noted that the engine to transmission drive shaft exhibited a bend of 10-degrees. Examination of the engine revealed no anomalies in the general physical condition and security of the engine as it was mounted in the accident helicopter. King Laboratories in Tampa, Florida tested the fuel samples both from the helicopter and the tank from which the helicopter was refueled. The samples were determined to be in compliance with the standards established for Jet A fuel. The first five attempts to preform a functional test-run of the engine were unsuccessful and the original fuel control was replaced. On the sixth attempt, the engine ran without issue. The power turbine governor and fuel control were bench tested at the Honeywell facility and no pre-existing conditions were identified that would have prevented normal operation in either assembly. An additional engine run with the original controls installed was performed at the Rolls-Royce plant and the engine ran without irregularities and nearly to performance standards for new production engines.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power due to undertermined reasons which resulted in a collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/7/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1541 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Ruskin |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33570 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 275438N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824114W |
| Event Location Airport | Vandenberg Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VDF |
| 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 | 22 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 26 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 30.1 |
| 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) | 17886 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N62939 |
| NTSB Number | ATL04TA047 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 72-21449 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 28 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 44.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 8871.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5808 Wilkins Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tampa |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33610 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KVDF |
| Departure City | Tampa |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Ruskin |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 6 2005 11:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |