Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
De Leon, Texas 76444
Saturday, August 7, 2004 14:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 9,375-hour pilot was giving attendees of a local festival 6-7 minute helicopter rides. He departed with two passengers and climbed to an altitude of 500 feet above ground level (agl). Shortly after, the engine began firing through the exhaust and began to lose power. The pilot entered an autorotation and prepared to land in a school playground. While maneuvering toward the playground, the engine stopped producing power. During the landing, the helicopter slid forward, the skids collapsed and the main rotor severed the tail boom. Before exiting the helicopter, the pilot secured the electrical switches, the magnetos, and turned off the fuel shut-off valve. Examination of the engine revealed that when then fuel shut-off valve was turned back on, fuel began to drain from the port where the main fuel line attached to the fuel manifold valve. The b-nut, which secured the line to the manifold, was partially attached to the port and was finger loose. The b-nut was then tightened, and the engine was test run on the airframe. It started immediately and ran at various power settings without interruption. According to the pilot, he had removed and reassembled the fuel manifold valve approximately nine hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to properly secure a fuel line, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to leakage and subsequent fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | De Leon |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76444 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321255N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0981040W |
| Event Location Airport | None |
| 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 | 1505 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | K7F9 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16859 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FTW FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1603 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Worth FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N78616 |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA212 |
| 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 | Enstrom |
| Aircraft Model | F-28F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 513 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Oct 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 1032.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Arrowhead Helicopters Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 4028 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kingman |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86402 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | De Leon |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1356 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 5:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |