- Date
- September 16, 1998, 08:33 local (13:33 UTC)
- Place
- Green Bay, WI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Uncontrolled descent
- Aircraft
- N142CCEnstrom 480
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980916037209A
- Case key
- 43920
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate rotor rpm during a practice autorotation.
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 pilot was practicing autorotations terminating with power. Power was applied at an altitude approximately 8 feet agl and the engine responded, but not in time to arrest the descent rate.
Factual narrative
On September 16, 1998, at 0833 central daylight time, an Enstrom 480, N142CC, operated by a private pilot collided with the terrain while practicing autorotations at the Straubel International Airport, Green Bay, Wisconsin. The pilot and a pilot rated passenger were not injured. The helicopter was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 flight. The flight originated from Green Bay at 0800 cdt.
The pilot reported that while practicing autorotations the helicopter set down hard. The pilot rated passenger reported the helicopter "...ran out of rotor rpm before it could be cushioned to the surface."
An Inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration Milwaukee, Wisconsin Flight Standards District Office reported the pilot was practicing autorotations terminating with power. One the accident autorotation the pilot initiated the flare at an altitude of 30 to 40 feet above the ground. Power was applied at an altitude of approximately 8 feet above the ground and the engine responded but not in enough time to arrest the descend.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N142CC
- Reported as
- Enstrom 480
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 5025
- Airframe hours
- 227
- Engine
- Allison 250, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James M. Christensen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 4, 1998 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- GRB
- Airport
- GRB · Straubel Int'L, runway 18, 8,200 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,002 total · 420 in this make and model · 751 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GRB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.