Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Ramona Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Valley Center, California 92082
Sunday, September 20, 2009 14:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was performing a pinnacle landing on a large boulder. As he approached the landing zone at an altitude of between 50 and 75 feet above ground level he heard a popping sound followed by a complete loss of engine power. He performed an autorotation, during which the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and tail boom. during the hard landing. The helicopter was manufactured about 11 months prior to the accident, had accumulated about 130 total flight hours, and was equipped with its original engine. Examination of the engine revealed that the camshaft had separated into two sections at the forward relief radius of the number six exhaust cam lobe. The fracture surfaces were damaged by the continued rotation of the engine just after the failure; however, the remaining surfaces exhibited features consistent with fatigue. The origin of the fatigue could not be determined. No other anomalies were noted with the engine or airframe. According to the engine manufacturer, the camshaft supplier had produced 4,870 camshafts of the accident type. All of these camshafts have since been installed in similar engines. A search of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Service Difficulty Report (SDR) database revealed no evidence of a similar camshaft separation. Additionally, the engine manufacturer reported no prior instances of any camshaft which had failed in such a manner.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the engine’s camshaft due to fatigue of unknown origin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Valley Center |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92082 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 330802n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1165511w |
| Event Location Airport | Ramona |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RNM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 9 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1395 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1395 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 29.96 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27023 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WPR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2010 2:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4174P |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA460 |
| 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 | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12512 |
| 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 | Apr 23 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 129 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GILLIAN BLUE GP LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5415 MAPLE AVE STE 204 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DALLAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75235-7490 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jason G Spurgeon |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Portland |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97224 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYF |
| Departure City | San Diego |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MYF |
| Destination City | San Diego |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2010 2:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |