Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Moraine Air Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dayton, Ohio 45439
Sunday, July 4, 2010 3:09 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The emergency medical services transport helicopter sustained minor damage when a door window separated in-flight. The pilot dropped a flight manual during cruise flight that impacted the right center door jettison handle, allowing the window to separate and impact the horizontal stabilizer. The required jettison handle guard was not installed. The helicopter’s maintenance manual directs that the crew and passenger doors be checked every 600 hours of flight time or every two years. The manual requires the following steps to reinstall the doors, "Install the Plexiglas protective cover." Subsequent to the accident, the helicopter manufacturer issued Safety Information Notices which described the incident and reminded mechanics that while performing routine maintenance procedures, in particular assembly procedures, “it is important to strictly comply with all applicable maintenance procedures, including the most basic and simple ones, to ensure proper helicopter performance and flight safety.”
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unintentional movement of the jettison handle in-flight due to the pilot’s dropping of a manual that impacted the handle and released the door window, which then impacted the horizontal stabilizer. Contributing to the accident was the jettison handle guard not being installed by maintenance personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 7/4/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 309 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Dayton |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45439 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394057N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0841434W |
| Event Location Airport | Moraine Air Park |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | I73 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 720 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MGY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 957 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KMGY 040653Z AUTO 17004KT 10SM CLR 21/17 A3007 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27909 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 3 2011 4:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N520CF |
| NTSB Number | CEN10IA372 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | AS365N3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6537 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9480 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 23 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 2570 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MIAMI VALLEY HOSPITAL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ONE WYOMING ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | DAYTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45409 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIR METHODS CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Englewood |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80112 |
| Operator Code | QMLA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | QMLA253U |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | I68 |
| Departure City | Lebanon |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 304 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Huber Heights |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2010 3:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |