Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Englewood, Colorado 80112
Sunday, June 13, 2004 14:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he had been cleared for operations on runway 17R. The pilot reported that after crossing the threshold at 40 knots and 40 feet agl, he "felt like [he] was in a high rate of descent and the [helicopter] began to sink." The pilot suspected he was in a "settling with power" situation and decreased the collective and pushed the cyclic forward. The helicopter continued to sink, impacting the runway hard and sliding for approximately 6 feet, substantially damaging the helicopter. Density altitude was calculated at 8,622 feet. The out of ground effect hover ceiling was calculated at approximately 5,600 feet and the in ground effect hover ceiling was calculated between 6,200 and 7,600 feet.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the settling with power situation encountered by the pilot. Contributing to the accident was the high density altitude.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/13/2004
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Englewood
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80112
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393412N
Event Location Longitude 1045100W
Event Location Airport CENTENNIAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 350
Airport Elevation 5883
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 1
Weather Observation Facility ID APA
Elevation of weather observation facility 5883
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 8000
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 14
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) 8622
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) 16062
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Jun 17 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2004 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver FAA FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2062N
NTSB Number DEN04CA092
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
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number S1830
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 12 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 62
Airframe Hours 1991
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Rotors of the Rockies Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 11915 Airport Way
Aircraft Owner City Broomfield
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80021
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Larry Felton
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address On file
Operator City Goldon
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80403
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 BJC
Departure City DENVER
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BJC
Destination City DENVER
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 1 2004 3:58PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17R
Runway Length 10002
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --