- Date
- July 15, 1988, 13:03 local (18:03 UTC)
- Place
- Newburgh, IN
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3047Sollars Rotorway Executive
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 16, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880715026779A
- Case key
- 13917
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The eng lost power as the homebuilt helicopter was on an apch to land at a private heliport. The student plt rprtd the helicopter was at aprx 50 ft AGL when the power loss occurred. Subsequently, during an autorotation, the helicopter touched down hard. No fuel was found in the fuel tanks or fuel lines & no evidence of fuel spillage was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3047
- Reported as
- Sollars Rotorway Executive (ROTORWAY E)
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- RW 152-1717
- Airframe hours
- 33
- Engine
- Rotorway RW-152, 152 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- David B. Sollars
- Registered owner
- David B Sollars
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 8, 1988 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- Madisonville, KY
- Airport
- NONE
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 40
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 35 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.