Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Casa Grande, Arizona 85222
Tuesady, June 25, 2013 6:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the accident flight, maintenance personnel exchanged the helicopter's air inlet barrier filter system, during which the engine was removed from the helicopter. A preflight inspection was completed before departure of the postmaintenance check flight, and no discrepancies were noted. The engine start and pretakeoff checks were normal, and, after departure, the flight appeared to progress normally. About 1 to 2 minutes after completing an in-flight power check, the pilot heard a "distinct loud pop." Subsequently, the engine lost total power, and the pilot entered an autorotation. The helicopter landed hard, its right skid collapsed, and it rolled on its right side. A postaccident examination of the helicopter's engine air inlet found that cloth material had been ingested into the engine air intake. During further examinations, more cloth material was found in the engine in a sufficient quantity and location to block the airflow through the engine and cause it to flame out. The cloth material found in the engine was consistent with maintenance rags found in a box at the operator's hangar facility. It is likely that, during the maintenance of the helicopter's engine, maintenance personnel covered vulnerable areas of the engine with shop rags to prevent contamination, and, during the reinstallation of the engine, they did not remove all of the shop rags. The engine then ingested the rags during the postmaintenance test flight. Due to the installation of the engine air inlet barrier system, the shop rags would not have been visible during the preflight inspection nor could they have made it into the engine from the outside of the helicopter with the system in place.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to the ingestion of a foreign object and maintenance personnel's failure to remove shop rags before completing the installation of the air inlet barrier system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/25/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 650 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Casa Grande |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85222 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325017N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114329W |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 640 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 7 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCGZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 170 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32229 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 20 2013 1:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N34CT |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA290 |
| 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 | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | 369E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0392E |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 8 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4785 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pinal County Sheriff's Office |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Florence |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85132 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Pinal County Sheriff's Office |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Florence |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85132 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KCGZ |
| Departure City | Casa Grande |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 645 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KCGZ |
| Destination City | Casa Grande |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2013 1:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |