Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kenosha Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kenosha, Wisconsin 53144
Sunday, September 21, 2008 5:38 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument-rated pilot departed from a casino heliport on a night cross country flight with a passenger. The helicopter impacted an occupied home and terrain about 1.5 miles south of the destination airport. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the area of the accident. A witness said the helicopter sounded "really low" and the "engine sounded like it was at low RPMs." An on-scene investigation revealed the filament in the rotor's low rpm light bulb was stretched. No pre-impact helicopter or engine anomalies were detected. The pilot's logbook showed he had accumulated 329 hours of total flight time. The pilot had recorded 37.25 hours of night flight time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots failure to maintain clearance from terrain resulting in an in-flight collision with a house. Contributing to the accident was the night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and the pilot's lack of experience of flying in IMC.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/21/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 538 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kenosha |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53144 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423718N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875735W |
| Event Location Airport | KENOSHA REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ENW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 742 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 534 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ENW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 742 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| 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) | 30.26 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24870 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 21 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2009 9:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee, WI, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N999ZD |
| NTSB Number | CHI08FA293 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11108 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 10 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 318.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Midwestern Air Services LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1430 45th Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kenosha |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53144 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Alan J. Sapko |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kenosha |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 53140 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 2IG3 |
| Departure City | Whiting |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 507 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ENW |
| Destination City | Kenosha |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2008 11:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |