Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West Plains Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Plains, Missouri 65775
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 10:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was substantially damaged during a hard landing following a loss of engine power. The operator reported that during the training flight, the check airman initiated a simulated engine failure. The report stated that the pilot lowered the collective and entered an autorotation. The operator stated that when the throttle was advanced to recover from the autorotation, the engine out annunciator light illuminated and a full autorotation was performed which terminated in a hard landing. The main rotor subsequently contacted the tail boom severing it. Engine test runs revealed that the engine would not reach 100-percent power, remaining at 95 to 98-percent (cruise) power. The fuel control unit and power turbine governor units were tested according to current production test specifications. Minor anomalies to the test requirements were observed on both units, however, none of the anomalies were consistent with a loss of engine power. The post accident inspection and testing did not reveal any conditions which would have precluded sustained engine operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons during the intentional autorotation. The pilot's misjudgment of the touchdown flare leading to a hard landing was an additional cause. A contributing factor was the intentional autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/13/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Plains |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 65775 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365243N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0915410W |
| Event Location Airport | West Plains Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UNO |
| 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 | 1228 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 222 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BPK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 928 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 41 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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) | 20136 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 13 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 2 2009 1:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-St. Louis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2756A |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA186 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45256 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 26207 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Air Evac EMS Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 306 Davis Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Plains |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 65775 |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | EVCA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | UNO |
| Departure City | West Plains |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | UNO |
| Destination City | West Plains |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 1:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |