Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flying W Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lumberton, New Jersey 08055
Saturday, June 22, 2013 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot initiated a practice autorotation about 951 feet above ground level (agl), rolled off the throttle to the idle detent, and maintained 60 knots during the descent until 50 feet agl, at which time, he flared the helicopter. At the end of the flare, when the helicopter was about 20 to 30 feet agl, the pilot lowered the nose to level the helicopter, began to increase the collective, and rolled on the throttle for a power recovery. The pilot reported that, subsequently, the engine sounded like it was "bogging down" and that the engine rpm was not increasing enough for the helicopter to continue to come to a hover. The helicopter continued to descend and contacted the runway hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the vertical firewall. A postaccident engine run revealed no evidence of a preimpact failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation. According to the pilot's flight manual, when performing practice autorotations, the pilot should lower the collective while maintaining the throttle setting to prevent the engine from "loading up or stalling" during recovery. Therefore, it is likely that the pilot rolling the throttle to the idle detent at the beginning of the maneuver, which was contrary to procedures, resulted in the engine hesitating when power was applied for the recovery.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's movement of the throttle to the idle detent at the beginning of a practice autorotation, which was contrary to procedures and resulted in the engine hesitating during the power recovery and a subsequent hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/22/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lumberton |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08055 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395603N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0744826W |
| Event Location Airport | Flying W Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N14 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 49 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1454 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 298 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VAY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 53 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32232 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Philadelphia FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2013 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2091E |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA300 |
| 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 | SIKORSKY |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S1837 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 3 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4799 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HERLIHY HELICOPTERS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 60 FOSTERTOWN RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEDFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08055-9510 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Helicopter Flight Services |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 60 FOSTERTOWN RD |
| Operator City | MEDFORD |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08055-9510 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | N14 |
| Departure City | Lumberton |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | N14 |
| Destination City | Lumberton |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2013 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 3496 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |