Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Van Nuys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Nuys, California 91406
Tuesady, April 27, 2004 14:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter encountered ground resonance during the initial run-up prior to takeoff. During the run-up, the magneto checks produced a rough running engine. At 2,000 rpm the certified flight instructor (CFI) attempted to correct the roughness by leaning the mixture. The helicopter then began shaking from side-to-side, indicating ground resonance. Due to the low rpm, the CFI elected to close the throttle rather than lift the helicopter from the ground. The ground resonance increased and neither the pilot-undergoing-instruction nor the CFI could hold onto the controls. The CFI then pulled the mixture control and the engine stopped. The skid damper assemblies were examined and tested for charge. The rear dampers had a lower charge than that specified in the maintenance manual for the helicopter. The forward dampers were within limits. The Schweizer 269 maintenance instructions call for the dampers to be checked and correctly pressurized at each 100-hour inspection. The last 100-hour inspection was 1 month 61 hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of maintenance personnel to ensure the proper charge of the aft landing gear dampers in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Van Nuys |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91406 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341221N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182914W |
| Event Location Airport | Van Nuys |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VNY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 802 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 802 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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) | 18622 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 27 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1454 |
| 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-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61415 |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA197 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 17 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 61.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 5689.7 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dragonfly Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 30 Old Rudnick Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dover |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19901 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Group 3 Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 16425 Hart St. |
| Operator City | Van Nuys |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 91406 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VNY |
| Departure City | Van Nuys |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1440 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - engine(s) operating |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 27 2005 2:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |