Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Van Nuys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Nuys, California 91406
Saturday, September 9, 2006 17:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certified flight instructor (CFI) and pilot under instruction (PUI) were going to perform a practice autorotation onto the taxiway. The airspeed was 65 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), the manifold pressure was 21-23 inches, and the altitude was about 500 feet above ground level (agl). Shortly after initiating the maneuver, the low voltage warning light illuminated. They scanned the operating gauges and tachometer, which indicated a loss of engine power. The CFI took control; the helicopter landed hard, and the tail boom separated. Post accident examination revealed that the engine would run rough at idle with full mixture applied. The engine produced 2,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) with the mixture leaned. Examination of the fuel servo revealed no anomaly other than the idle spring missing from the mixture link, and that the idle was out of adjustment. Initial flow test results were out of limits in the idle range, but satisfactory at maximum throttle. With proper adjustment of the idle link, test results were within specified limits in all ranges. The purpose of the idle mixture spring is to control the movement of the mixture adjustment. If this spring is not installed, the mixture setting can vibrate to higher or lower settings. Maintenance records indicated that maintenance personnel had recently made an adjustment to the idle setting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate maintenance adjustment and missing mixture spring, which resulted in a loss of engine power during approach.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/9/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Van Nuys |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91406 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341235N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182024W |
| Event Location Airport | Van Nuys |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VNY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 802 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 802 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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) | 23788 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 9 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N323CP |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA290 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0181 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 69 |
| Airframe Hours | 1769 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Group 3 Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16425 Hart St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Van Nuys |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91406 |
| 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 | 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 | VNY |
| Departure City | Van Nuys |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VNY |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 11 2008 2:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |