What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Lost power in cruise flight. Police patrol . Autorotated into parking lot. Rod bolt failure. NR2 cyl separated. (-23) on March 19, 1997, at 2313 EST, a schweitzer 269C, N892CP, registered to the city of Cleveland, operated by the Cleveland police department, experienced an inflight power loss, while in a cruise configuration, during a routine patrol. An emergency landing was executed in a vacant parking lot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. No flight plan was filed. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The pilot and his observoer received no injuries. The pilot holds a private pilot certificate with airplane single engine land and rotorcraft ratings. The flight had originated earlier from burke lakefront airport, Cleveland, OH.
As the FAA filed it
LOST POWER IN CRUISE FLIGHT. POLICE PATROL . AUTOROTATED INTO PARKING LOT. ROD BOLT FAILURE. NR2 CYL SEPARATED. (-23) ON MARCH 19, 1997, AT 2313 EST, A SCHWEITZER 269C, N892CP, REGISTERED TO THE CITY OF CLEVELAND, OPERATED BY THE CLEVELAND POLICE DEPARTMENT, EXPERIENCED AN INFLIGHT POWER LOSS, WHILE IN A CRUISE CONFIGURATION, DURING A ROUTINE PATROL. AN EMERGENCY LANDING WAS EXECUTED IN A VACANT PARKING LOT. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME. NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED. THE PILOT AND HIS OBSERVOER RECEIVED NO INJURIES. THE PILOT HOLDS A PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE WITH AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND AND ROTORCRAFT RATINGS. THE FLIGHT HAD ORIGINATED EARLIER FROM BURKE LAKEFRONT AIRPORT, CLEVELAND, OH.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.