Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ft Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Milliken, Colorado 80543
Friday, March 13, 2009 14:25 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness on the ground was watching the helicopter when he saw several pieces fall off and subsequently land in his and a neighbor's yard. The commercial pilot said that he was en route cruising at approximately 1,500 feet above ground level when he felt a "bump on the controls" and heard a "bang" and thought that he had hit a bird. He returned to his departure airport 45 miles away for an otherwise uneventful landing. On postflight inspection, the pilot discovered that the lower portion of the left engine cowling was missing and that the cowling pieces had struck both main rotor blades and both tail rotor blades, but no evidence of bird remains were found. The impact caused substantial damage to the left engine cowling, both tail rotor blades, the tail rotor yoke, and the tail rotor gearbox. The pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot said that before departure he had conducted a preflight inspection; however, the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the helicopter and the separated pieces of the left engine cowling found no evidence of bird remains and no damage to the cowling latches that would have prevented them from operating normally prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the left engine cowling for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/13/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1425 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Milliken |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80543 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401931N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1045120W |
| Event Location Airport | Ft Collins-Loveland Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FNL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5016 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1415 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 343 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFLN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5016 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| 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 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KFNL 132015Z AUTO 16005KT 10SM CLR 09/M14 A3014 RM |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25391 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ANM Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 20 2009 4:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N222LL |
| NTSB Number | CEN09CA218 |
| 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 | 222 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47060 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7850 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 16 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 29 |
| Airframe Hours | 9895 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KAUFFMAN LAND & DEVELOPMENT LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10137 WELD COUNTY ROAD 19 |
| Aircraft Owner City | FT LUPTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80620 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | KAUFFMAN KEVIN P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4905 S ELIZABETH CIRCLE |
| Operator City | ENGLEWOOD |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80113-7155 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KAPA |
| Departure City | Denver |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Weld County |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 20 2009 4:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| 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 | -- |