- Date
- May 17, 2008, 12:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Lafayette, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6032CDowell Vaughn Exec 90
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-hover: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA, FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080517834399A
- Case key
- 68036
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 improper in-flight decision to continue flight after experiencing a loss of rotor RPM. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's low level of experience in helicopters and the leaking oil from the engine oil filler cap.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The private pilot stated during a telephonic interview that he was hovering in an open field adjacent to the airport, when he began to lose rotor RPM. He landed briefly to investigate why the helicopter was not flying properly. He then decided to hover taxi back to his hangar and was trying to keep the nose of the helicopter pointed into the wind. While hovering with a slight right crab over a freshly plowed field the helicopter settled, the right skid contacted the soft terrain, and rolled onto the right side. The pilot stated that the loss of rotor RPM was the result of the loose engine oil cap that sprayed engine oil on the main rotor system drive belts. The helicopter main rotor blades, tail rotor blades, fuselage, and tail boom were substantially damaged. There was no post-crash fire and the pilot reported no injuries. Weather was reported at the time as winds from 020 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 30 miles with few clouds at 7,000 feet and a temperature of 72 degrees.
Factual narrative
The private pilot stated during a telephonic interview that he was hovering in an open field adjacent to the airport, when he began to loose rotor RPM. He landed briefly to investigate why the helicopter was not flying properly. The pilot then decided to hover taxi back to his hangar and was trying to keep the nose of the helicopter pointed into the wind. While hovering with a slight right crab over a freshly plowed field the helicopter settled, the right skid contacted the soft terrain, and rolled onto the right side. The pilot stated that the loss of rotor RPM was the result of the loose engine oil cap that sprayed engine oil on the main rotor system drive belts. The helicopter main rotor blades, tail rotor blades, fuselage, and tail boom were substantially damaged. There was no post-crash fire and the pilot reported no injuries. Weather was reported at the time as winds from 020 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 30 miles with few clouds at 7,000 feet and a temperature of 72 degrees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6032C
- Reported as
- Dowell Vaughn Exec 90
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- VXH01
- Airframe hours
- 750
- Engine
- Rotorway RI 162, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- 48V · Erie, CO
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- KEIK · Erie Municipal Airport
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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2007
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,635 total · 30 in this make and model · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KBJC, 7 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.