Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grove Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Camas, Washington 98607
Monday, November 17, 2008 11:28 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The owner/student and certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that they made one successful trip around the landing pattern, and landed. The second takeoff was progressing with the engine revolutions per minute (rpm) and manifold pressure in the high normal range. The CFI stated that about 30 to 50 feet above ground level (agl) at 45 to 50 miles per hour (mph), the engine just stopped. It did not sputter, skip, or give any indications that there was a problem. The CFI took the controls, and steered the helicopter to a grassy area on the left side of the runway. He kept it upright, and touched down hard on the skids first. Examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no evidence of catastrophic engine failure, or any other reason for the loss of power. Review of a video of the accident indicated that the helicopter maintained an almost level attitude throughout the descent. It descended at a constant attitude with no apparent flare/deceleration. A factory pilot for the manufacturer reported that in order to make a safe autorotation, the air speed must be above 40 miles per hour, the rotor rpm must be in the green, and a deceleration must occur in the last 25 to 35 feet that will allow using airspeed to slow the rate of descent. The factory pilot stated that the helicopter was probably outside of the parameters for a successful autorotation and he did not think that the instructor had enough time and altitude to make a safe autorotation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the low altitude and airspeed, which precluded making a safe autorotation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/17/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1128 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Camas |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98607 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 453740N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222416W |
| Event Location Airport | Grove Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1W1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1053 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PDX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26558 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NWR Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2010 4:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2274U |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA039 |
| 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 | BRANTLY |
| Aircraft Model | B-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 439 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Oct 31 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David S. Spencer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nehalem |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97131 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | David S. Spencer |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Nehalem |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97131 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 1W1 |
| Departure City | Camas |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1110 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 1W1 |
| Destination City | Camas |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2010 4:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 2710 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |