Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Houma-Terrebonne Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houma, Louisiana 70363
Monday, December 11, 2006 15:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 2,873-hour flight instructor, who reported having accumulated 550-hours in the same make and model helicopter, reported that during a training flight, while practicing touchdown autorotations, the helicopter shuttered with a slight vibration through the airframe on climb out. The flight instructor added that the vibration stopped and he elected to continue the climb turning toward a downwind leg for the next autorotation. The helicopter shuttered again, this time much more violently, while on the downwind leg. The pilot stated on the NTSB Form 6120.1, Pilot/Operator Accident/Incident Report, that "I felt like the gearbox was locking up or something." The rated student pilot who was flying the helicopter at the time then declared "you've got the controls" to the instructor. The flight instructor immediately entered autorotation and the shutter stopped. In an attempt to regain powered flight the instructor then reapplied throttle which immediately created a violent vibration again and he decided to roll throttle completely off and continue with the emergency landing. The altitude at the onset was approximately 400 feet above ground level (agl). The flight instructor initiated a 180-degree turn autorotation to align the helicopter into the prevailing wind. The flight instructor also stated that the transfer of controls and attempt to regain powered flight, followed by the delay in entering the autorational turn, created a low airspeed and low rotor RPM situation that made the successful landing not possible. The flight instructor stated that he "waited until the last second and pulled the collective up to the stops and prayed." The helicopter landed hard and managed to remain in the upright position. The flight instructor and the rated student pilot were not injured. An FAA inspector, who traveled to the site, noted that the spark plug and helicoil was broken out on the number two cylinder. Further inspection of the number two cylinder revealed three separate cracks in the cylinder wall. At the time of the accident, the winds were reported from 070 degrees at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power as a result of a cracked engine cylinder and broken spark plug which resulted in a hard landing. A factor was that it was not possible to attain proper rotor RPM.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/11/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Houma |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70363 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 293335N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0903922W |
| Event Location Airport | Houma-Terrebonne Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KHUM |
| 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 | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHUM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21201 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center For |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 11 2006 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 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9396F |
| NTSB Number | DFW07CA037 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 269B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 840126 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 13337 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Johnston Flying Service, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 217 Aviation Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houma |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70363 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KHUM |
| Departure City | Houma |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KHUM |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 6 2007 8:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |