Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Crete, Illinois 60417
Friday, July 1, 2005 13:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter sustained substantial damage following an in-flight fire, hard landing, and subsequent ground fire. The pilot's accident report stated, "We were flying ... when I noticed clutch light on. The light stayed on for longer than 7 [seconds] and my decision was to pull clutch circuit breaker to save other belt. I took over the controls when the clutch light went on and I started to set my self up for emergency landing. ... At the same time I noticed smoke inside the cockpit and the smoke was filling inside fast. ... At about 1100 MSL I noticed low rpm light and horn went on, so I lowered the collective and entered autorotation. ... We exited the aircraft and could see the flames above the belts about 3 feet tall." Burnt pieces of alternator and drive belts were recovered from the site. A separated section of a recovered drive belt measured about a foot in length. The bottom quarter of the dipstick had oil on it when removed. The oil cooler exhibited damage on its lower and inboard surfaces, along the aft edge. The lower aft corner of the cooler was separated at its seam there. A dark media covered the engine in the area adjacent to the oil cooler. An oil like media was found on the tail rotor's guard and on the vertical stabilizer. The tailcone was burned away at its forward end. No pre-impact failures of the flight control system were found. The landing gear exhibited downward yielding.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The separation of the drive belt, during cruise, leading to the puncturing of the oil cooler and subsequent fire. An additional cause was the pilot's restricted lookout during the emergency landing resulting in the hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/1/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1350
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Crete
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60417
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 412558N
Event Location Longitude 0874654W
Event Location Airport --
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1325 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID IGQ
Elevation of weather observation facility 620
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
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) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 16
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.86
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) 19726
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 1 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2006 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office West Chicago, IL, FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N997SA
NTSB Number CHI05LA173
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Robinson
Aircraft Model R22 Beta
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1029
Certified Max Gross Weight 1370
Aircraft Category Helicopter
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48
Airframe Hours 2398
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Sun Aero Helicopters Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO Box 5088
Aircraft Owner City Lansing
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60438
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code IGQ
Departure City CHICAGO
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
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? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 28 2006 8:28AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
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 --