Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mooresville, Indiana 46225
Saturday, June 17, 2006 12:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The amateur-built helicopter was destroyed by a fire that began in-flight and continued on the ground after landing. The flight instructor and dual student were not injured. The instructor and dual student reported that the instructional flight consisted of practicing hovering. They stated that approximately 20 minutes into the flight they thought they smelled smoke and decided to make a precautionary landing. The pilots reported that once they landed, smoke was coming out of the engine compartment and the engine had stopped. Both pilots exited the helicopter safely. Subsequent efforts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful. A post accident examination was unable to determine the source of the fire due to the extensive damage to the helicopter.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An in-flight fire for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/17/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1220
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Mooresville
Event State INDIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 46225
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 394303N
Event Location Longitude 0861767W
Event Location Airport Private
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PVT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1154 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID IND
Elevation of weather observation facility 797
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KIND 171554Z 22006KT 10SM FEW150 SCT230 28/1
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) 20307
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 17 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2006 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-Indianapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9164X
NTSB Number CHI06CA155
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McFarland
Aircraft Model Rotorway Exec
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 8601439
Certified Max Gross Weight 1425
Aircraft Category Helicopter
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 340
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Eddie R McFarland
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Cincinnati
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City Mooresville
Departure State IN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
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 Hover
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2006 3:18PM
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 --