Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St Louis, Missouri 63005
Thursday, May 23, 2013 21:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor reported that, shortly after he and the pilot-rated student departed on a night training flight in the turbine-powered helicopter, they heard a loud bang, and the helicopter yawed left. The flight instructor chose to perform an autorotation with forward airspeed onto the airport’s taxiway. Examination of the turbine engine revealed several holes in the compressor case, consistent with engine blades exiting the engine. Further examination revealed that the stages 3 through 6 compressor blades had separated at the roots. Examination also revealed that the 3rd-stage wheel blade root had fractured due to progressive cracking, consistent with fatigue; 54 percent of the fracture surface exhibited fatigue features. However, the fracture initiation surface was destroyed, so it was not possible to determine the cause of the fatigue failure. Indications of fatigue were also found on the stages 3 through 6 blades’ fracture surfaces. The engine’s compressor had 13,874 hours time since new (TSN) and the compressor rotor stages 1 through 6 wheels had 1,185.3 hours TSN and were Parts Manufacturer Approval replacement parts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to the separation of compressor blades, which resulted from fatigue cracking.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | St Louis |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63005 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384504N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0902217W |
| Event Location Airport | Spirit of St. Louis Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSUS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 463 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2254 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| 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) | 30.22 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSUS 240354Z 08004KT 10SM CLR 14/11 A3022 RM |
| 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) | 33395 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Air Evac Lifeteam |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2014 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N297CA |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA378 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1453 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 14 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 15025 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GM LEASING CO LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1318 SMEDE HWY |
| Aircraft Owner City | BROUSSARD |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70518-8028 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air-Evac Lifeteam |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1001 Boardwalk Springs Place, Suite 250 |
| Operator City | O'Fallon |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63368 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KSUS |
| Departure City | St Louis |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KSUS |
| Destination City | St Louis |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2014 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| 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 | -- |