Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Portland, Indiana 47371
Sunday, October 30, 2005 15:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power during climb out. The pilot reported that the engine did not sound normal during the previous shutdown. The pilot stated that during a postflight inspection he noted the engine oil quantity was six quarts low. He added six quarts of oil before restarting the engine. After engine startup, the pilot walked around the helicopter and noticed smoke emanating from the engine compartment and heard the engine misfiring. The pilot stated that he brought the helicopter into a hover to see if the engine would sustain power. After hovering briefly, the pilot departed on the accident flight. The pilot reported that the helicopter experienced a total loss of engine power during climb out and an autorotation was performed into a cornfield. The pilot stated that he was unable to maintain directional control during landing due to the soft ground condition and the helicopter slid approximately 100 feet and turned about 190 degrees to the left. The pilot reported that the main and tail rotors contacted the ground, but the helicopter came to rest in an upright position. A witness reported seeing the helicopter on the ramp with the engine running. The witness reported that there was smoke coming from the engine compartment and that the engine was misfiring at idle power. The witness stated that the helicopter then departed with smoke trailing from the helicopter. An inspection of the engine revealed that the number two cylinder connecting rod had separated from the crankshaft. The rod cap, cap bolts, and bearing material were not recovered. The number two crankshaft journal surface was smooth, shiny, and did not show any evidence of heat discoloration.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to operate the helicopter with a known engine deficiency, the loss of engine power due to the connecting rod failure, and the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. A factor to the accident was the corn crop and the soft terrain condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/30/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1515 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Portland |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47371 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402703N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0845924W |
| 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 | 1453 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 937 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| 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) | 20817 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 30 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 9:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration, Indianapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N266Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI06LA021 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Enstrom |
| Aircraft Model | F-28A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 276 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 1274.5 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rex E Coomer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Woodburn |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46797 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PLD |
| Departure City | Portland |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Woodburn |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 3 2006 10:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| 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 | -- |