Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Covey Trails Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fulshear, Texas 77469
Saturday, January 27, 2007 16:16 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The owner of the helicopter reported that a cylinder had been replaced and he asked a pilot to conduct a short test flight after he completed the cylinder "brake-in" process. The pilot reported that the helicopter experience a large yaw and lost power while at 500 feet above the ground. The pilot was forced to clear ground obstacles during the autorotation which resulted in a loss of main rotor rpm. The helicopter fell vertically from 50-feet, resulting in a hard landing. There was no fire. All three main rotor blades were destroyed and the tail boom separated from the airframe. Ten gallons of aviation fuel were drained from the helicopter prior to recovery. No discrepancies were found with the airframe of the engine that could have contributed to the reported loss of engine power. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined. The pilot held a private pilot certificate, and had accumulated a total of 1,200-hours, with 80-hours in rotorcraft, of which 40-hours were in the same make and model helicopter. Weather was not a factor.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/27/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1616 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Fulshear |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77469 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294243N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0955065W |
| Event Location Airport | COVEY TRAILS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 80XS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 120 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 115 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSGR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 115 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22303 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 27 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | HOU FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8503A |
| NTSB Number | DFW07LA061 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 269A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 86-0645 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Virgin Ventures LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Richmond |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77469 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Orville Gaither |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Houston |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77084 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Fulshear |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Fulshear |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 9:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |