Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Prairie, Texas 75051
Monday, July 30, 2007 6:43 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After departing their home base, the flight reported on the traffic and news for a local television and radio station for 42 minutes. While the helicopter was transiting from another location for an upcoming news story, the helicopter experienced a loss of engine power while in cruise flight at 800-feet above ground level. The pilot reported that he initiated a left 180-degree turn to a clear area. The autorotation was terminated over tall grass and during touchdown the helicopter rolled over and came to rest on its right side. The accident site was a wooded area with soft soil on rough and uneven terrain. The 8,000-hour helicopter pilot reported having accumulated approximately 7,000-hours in the Bell 206 helicopter, with 200-hours within the last 90 days and 50 hours in the last 30 days. The pilot reported that he did not perceive any anomalies or engine warnings prior to the loss of engine power. A preliminary examination of the helicopter was conducted under the supervision and control of the NTSB Investigator-in-Charge. Initial examination of the engine revealed that the compressor (N1) would not rotate. The engine was subsequently removed from the airframe and shipped to the engine manufacturer's facilities for further evaluation and teardown examination. The engine examination revealed that all of the blade airfoils for the 5th stage compressor had separated from the wheel, with no signs of distress on the first 4 stages of the compressor. Damage to the 6th stage of the compressor and compressor case assembly were considered to be secondary. A detailed metallurgical examination of the compressor revealed that the compressor failure was result of the separation of one or more of the 5th stage compressor blades. Some of the blade fragments were recovered during the engine examination; however they were heavily damaged precluding further analysis. The reason for the failure of the compressor blade(s) could not be determined due to the extensive secondary damage of the components involved.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power as result of the failure of one or more of the compressor blades for the 5th stage compressor for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the pilot to execute a successful autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 643 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grand Prairie |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75051 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 323846N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0965945W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 650 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGPM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 650 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 30000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 13000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23392 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center FTW |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dallas, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4YJ |
| NTSB Number | DFW07LA173 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4463 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5608 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Helicopters, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1101 W Edgar Rd. # 405C |
| Aircraft Owner City | Linden |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07036 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DAL |
| Departure City | DALLAS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 600 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | DAL |
| Destination City | DALLAS |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 3:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | GAMW |
| 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 | -- |