Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rochester, Minnesota 55902
Saturday, July 24, 2010 14:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness reported that the agricultural helicopter was refueled and that the hopper was loaded with chemical before departure. He reported that he saw the helicopter depart, that the engine sounded normal, and that the helicopter’s departure and flightpath appeared normal. He then saw a "brown puff of smoke" come from the helicopter, and it subsequently descended and impacted a hill. A postaccident engine examination revealed that the compressor rotor assembly had failed. The metallurgical examination of the compressor rotor assembly revealed that a single first-stage compressor blade had fractured in high-cycle fatigue. The microstructure, hardness, and chemistry of the first-stage compressor wheel conformed to the requirements of the engineering drawing. No evidence of corrosion was found near the fracture origin. The engine was installed on the helicopter during the last annual maintenance inspection conducted 3 days before the accident. Evidence indicated that the engine was installed properly. The reason for the fracture could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to a high-cycle fatigue fracture of a first-stage compressor blade. The reason for the fracture could not be determined during postaccident examination.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rochester |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55902 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440259N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0921935W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RST |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1317 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32254 |
| 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 7 2014 2:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | silj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N124SH |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA431 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 47G-4A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7599 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 15 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 15020 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCOTTS HELICOPTER SERVICES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 92 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LE SUEUR |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56058-0092 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SCOTTS HELICOPTER SERVICES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 92 |
| Operator City | LE SUEUR |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 56058-0092 |
| Operator Code | CUHA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Local Airstrip |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1326 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Local Airstrip |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 7 2014 2:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | silj |
| 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 | -- |