Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Queen City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18109
Monday, September 29, 2008 11:25 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter experienced a total loss of engine power in flight and the pilot performed an off-airport landing in a hayfield. The pilot was uninjured and the helicopter was not damaged. Examination of the exhaust stacks revealed minor internal impact damage, consistent with high velocity objects exiting the engine. The fourth-stage turbine wheel outer ring was missing material along an approximately 30-degree arc and could not be rotated by hand. The engine had been overhauled at a facility in Canada and installed on the incident helicopter by the operator approximately 6 flight hours prior to the event. Several parts of the engine were removed and sent to the Safety Board's Material Laboratory for examination. Examination of the second-stage turbine wheel revealed a fatigue fracture through a blade. The fatigue progressed through approximately half of the airfoil, and the origin was located in the transition radius between the wheel rim outer diameter and the blade near the junction of a fore-to-aft mold line that was created during original manufacture. The blade failed due to fatigue, and the oxidation of the blade fracture surface suggested that the fatigue was due to thermal loads. No metallurgical or mechanical discontinuities were noted at the surface. Examination of the other 23 blades on the same wheel revealed small cracks in the same general location as the fatigue origin on the fracture blade. The fuel nozzle spray pattern was within specification, and there was no indication of flame streaking throughout the turbine components. Although a crack at the base of the blades on the second-stage power turbine wheel was a relatively new location, and similar failures had the same performance modifications performed, the investigation was unable to identify a connection between the performance modifications and the fatigue at the base of the blade.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure of a blade in the second-stage turbine wheel, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1125 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Allentown |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 18109 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404317N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0752028W |
| Event Location Airport | Queen City Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | XLL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 13 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 399 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1051 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 224 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 393 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27820 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Engine Manufacturer |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 23 2010 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N801SB |
| NTSB Number | ERA09IA499 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | 369E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0209E |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 27 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1673 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HAVERFIELD INTERNATIONAL INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | GETTYSBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 17325-7109 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HAVERFIELD INTERNATIONAL INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | GETTYSBURG |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 17325-7109 |
| Operator Code | HXFL |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| Operator Certificate Number | HXFL190E |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | XLL |
| Departure City | Allentown |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SWF |
| Destination City | Newburg |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 23 2010 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |