Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Englewood, Colorado 80112
Monday, August 9, 2004 17:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the helicopter had just undergone maintenance and was preparing for a second test flight. The helicopter had departed approximately 15 minutes prior to the accident and returned due to an inoperative horizontal situation indicator. A thorough preflight had been conducted for the first test flight. While the HSI was being repaired, another maintenance technician opened the transmission cowling. The pilot and two avionics technicians boarded the helicopter from the left side, without performing an additional preflight or walk around. The pilot performed a run-up and lifted the helicopter to a hover when an individual on the ground noticed that the cowling was open. The lead mechanic then signaled to the pilot for him to land. As the helicopter set back down, the transmission cowling detached and impacted a main rotor blade and the tail boom, causing substantial damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to perform a preflight inspection. Contributing to the accident was the transmission cowling that disconnected during the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| 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 | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393402N |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5883 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8228 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16494 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 11 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FAA Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N910U |
| NTSB Number | DEN04CA122 |
| 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 | Eurocopter France |
| Aircraft Model | EC-130 B4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3470 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5291 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 6 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 85.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Banc One Leasing Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1111 Polaris Parkway Street A3 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Columbus |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83240 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air Methods |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7301 S Peoria Street |
| Operator City | Englewood |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80112 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | APA |
| Departure City | Englewood |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | APA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2004 11:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| 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 | -- |