Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Manchester Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Manchester, New Hampshire 03102
Saturday, November 18, 2006 14:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amatuer-built helicopter was about 45 minutes into its flight when the pilot heard a "pop," and saw a puff of blue smoke. He also noticed an odor of "burning" oil, and heard "crackling" in the engine compartment on the pilot's side of the helicopter. He selected a forced landing site and entered autorotation as the engine "sputtered" and stopped producing power. The helicopter touched down on an upslope with forward motion, then rolled over on to its side. A split engine oil suppy line was identified at the site, and examination revealed that beneath the torn fire sleeve and damaged outer braiding material, there was longitudinal cracking about 1 inch in length due to fatigue. Positioning of the oil line on the accident helicopter was different than a factory-assembled version that was examined, but because the helicopter was amateur built, there was no standard. Photographs of the oil line installation on the 23 year-old accident helicopter suggested the oil line was curved more tightly than the manufacturer's suggested minimum radius, and showed the oil line in close proximity to a source of high heat; the engine exhaust.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An improperly installed oil line, which resulted in oil line fatigue failure and a subsequent loss of oil to the engine. A contributing factor was the sloping terrain at the forced landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/18/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Manchester |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03102 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430009N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0712907W |
| Event Location Airport | Manchester Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MHT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 266 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ASH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 266 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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) | 22968 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 18 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N169JS |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA030 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Stump |
| Aircraft Model | Rotorway Exec 90 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | SH-002 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 173 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Edward P. Carvalho |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Merrimack |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03054 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Merrimack |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03054 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ASH |
| Departure City | NASHUA |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ASH |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 14 2008 9:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| 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 | -- |