Goshen Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Goshen, Indiana 46553
Friday, August 5, 2005 11:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that the student smoothly lowered the collective and set the helicopter on the ground as he was rolling off the throttle. The helicopter then started to bounce (ground resonance) and the CFI reached down to make sure the collective was down and the throttle was off. The helicopter continued to "shake violently and ripped itself apart." The helicopter had a new design of elastomeric damper installed 91 flight hours before the accident. The new design dampers had been flight tested at the factory and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration prior to being put into service. The helicopter had experienced severe vibrations on two previous flights, one of which resulted in the chin bubble being broken. Inspection of the accident dampers, at the damper manufacturer's factory, determined the dampers were within manufacturer's specifications. After the accident flight the helicopter manufacturer recalled all the new design elastomeric dampers.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Ground resonance experienced by the pilots.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/5/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Goshen
Event State INDIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 46553
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 413138N
Event Location Longitude 0854732W
Event Location Airport Goshen Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KGSH
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 827
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.23
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KGSH 051353Z AUTO 04004KT 10SM CLR 24/19 A30
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23053
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 5 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2008 3:59PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office South Bend, Indiana

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N480FX
NTSB Number CHI05LA218
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Enstrom
Aircraft Model 480
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5028
Certified Max Gross Weight 2850
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 91
Airframe Hours 1545
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name --
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name Andrew Heytow
Operator Same as Owner? --
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? --
Operator Street Address 6140 N. Knox Ave.
Operator City Chicago
Operator State IL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 60647
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code GRR
Departure City Grand Rapids
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code GSH
Destination City Goshen
Destination State IN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 6 2008 2:02PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 23
Runway Length 2585
Runway Width 180
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --