Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Memorial Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Robbinsdale, Minnesota 55422
Tuesady, November 8, 2005 8:58 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter sustained substantial damage during an aborted takeoff from a helicopter-landing pad. The pilot stated that he started the helicopter and "performed a full run-up of both engines and all systems." He reported, "Both engine FADEC [Full-Authority Digital Engine Control] Power Management Switches (PMS) were verified as being in the 'Flight' position, the collective-mounted 100 percent/102 percent switch was in the '102' position, and the number 1 Electronic Display Unit (EDU) showed three vertical yellow lines representing the rpm of both engines as being at 102 percent and that the rotor rpm (Nr) was co-joined with them." He reported that he pulled the helicopter into a five-foot hover. After about 30 seconds of normal hovering flight, the pilot heard a "bang." The pilot reported that the helicopter started to settle vertically downwards, and that he glanced at the number 1 Electronic Display Unit and saw "multiple caution and warning lights." He reported that the aircraft was oscillating laterally as it settled, and that there was a rapid loss of rotor rpm. He used the collective pitch lever to cushion the landing with the remaining rotor rpm. He reported, "As soon as the left main wheel gently touched down the aircraft went into a violent lateral oscillation which was clearly ground resonance. This resonant oscillation increased in severity even though I had the collective pitch lever in the full down position." The left main landing gear collapsed and the helicopter settled onto its left sponson. The tail rotor blades contacted the ground. The helicopter continued to oscillate laterally and the nose of the helicopter swung to the left following main rotor rotation. The pilot shut down both engines and the main rotor blades coasted to a stop. The on-site examination revealed that the damage to the helicopter was consistent with ground resonance. Both engines were run on an engine test stand and no anomalies were evident that would preclude normal engine operation. The examination of the non-volatile memory of the engine electronic controls (EEC's) for both engines did not reveal any preexistent anomaly or fault codes associated with the accident flight. The inspection of the flight controls and aircraft systems did not reveal any anomalies associated with a preexisting condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of lift for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/8/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 858 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Robbinsdale |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55422 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 450135N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0933356W |
| Event Location Airport | North Memorial Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MY77 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 930 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 841 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Tue Nov 8 14:53:00 2005 1131461580 120 9 KT 7.2 |
| 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) | 21099 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 8 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N30NM |
| NTSB Number | CHI06LA027 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Agusta |
| Aircraft Model | A109-E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11065 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6283 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 |
| Airframe Hours | 2444 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | North Memorial Health Care |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4501 68th Ave. N. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Brooklyn Center |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55429 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MY77 |
| Departure City | Robbinsdale |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 858 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MIC |
| Destination City | Crystal |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 18 2007 12:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | 120 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |