Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flandreau Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flandreau, South Dakota 57028
Tuesady, August 14, 2012 9:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the helicopter lost engine power during cruise flight. He initiated an autorotation; however, the only available landing area was a pasture that resulted in a tailwind approach and landing. The landing from the autorotation was reportedly a “little rough,” and the helicopter bounced and rolled onto its left side. A postaccident examination revealed that the throttle system did not operate properly. Specifically, the hand grip on the collective throttle control was loose and the throttle cable was not free to move within the conduit. The conduit did not appear to be deformed or damaged in a manner that would have prevented movement of the cable. The throttle conduit was replaced about 3 months before the accident; however, the existing throttle cable was reinstalled with the new conduit. A brief operational test of the throttle system was successfully conducted after that maintenance and the helicopter was subsequently operated for more than 25 hours without incident before the accident occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A malfunction of the helicopter’s throttle system, which resulted in a loss of engine power during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Flandreau |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57028 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440255N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0964254W |
| Event Location Airport | Flandreau Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4P3 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1645 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 913 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 94 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PQN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1736 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 110 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30757 |
| 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 | Nov 21 2012 1:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N444EH |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA557 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2421 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Mar 12 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 15659.1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jamie A. VonEye |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Colman |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57017 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Shon Keith |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Egan |
| Operator State | SD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 57024 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 4P3 |
| Departure City | Flandreau |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Colman |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 11 2012 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sort |
| 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 | -- |