Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 12:42 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was to reposition the helicopter to a high school for a static display. After takeoff from a confined area consisting of an immediately adjacent building, antenna, and a parking lot with numerous cars, the pilot executed a pedal turn to depart over the parking lot. During climb out while flying between 35 to 40 feet agl, and between 30 to 35 knots, he heard a "bang" and the helicopter yawed to the right. He later stated the right yaw may have been due to his over correction. He lowered the collective and turned left in an attempt to land on grass at the edge of the parking lot. He pulled collective to clear vehicles below and as a result, the helicopter impacted the ground hard; the main rotor blades collided with several vehicles. Examination of the helicopter revealed no discrepancies with the tail rotor drive system. The main drive shaft was fractured at both ends; no evidence of preexisting cracks were noted. Examination of the engine revealed leading and trailing edge damage to the first and second stage compressor blades, while the 3rd, 4th, and 5th stage compressor blades were fractured near the blade root. No evidence of preexisting cracking was noted on any of the fractured compressor blades.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the compressor section of the engine for undetermined reasons resulting in the total loss of engine power during the initial climb. A factor in the accident was the operator's use of a confined area for takeoff during non-emergency or routine situations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/29/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1242 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | St. Augustine |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32084 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 295623N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812019W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 1255 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSGJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20757 |
| NTSB Notification Source | St. Johns County Sheriff's Off |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 29 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2006 9:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N244RP |
| NTSB Number | MIA05TA124 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71-20533 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 4175.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Florida St. Johns County Sheriff's Office |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4015 Lewis Speedway |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Augustine |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32084 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | St. Johns County Sheriff's Office |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | St. Augustine |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1242 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 10 2006 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |