- Date
- July 18, 1997, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lakeport, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6323FFronsman Rotorway Exec
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 31, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970718047599A
- Case key
- 29849
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
an undetermined failure of the oil system (lines or filter), while hovering, which resulted in an engine compartment fire that erupted and subsequently destroyed the helicopter after it was landed.
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 said he was practicing hover operations, when the oil pressure began to decrease. By the time he had landed at his parking ramp, the oil pressure was at zero. As he exited the helicopter, the pilot noticed smoke and flames coming from the right side of the engine compartment. He was unsuccessful in extinguishing the fire with a portable fire extinguisher, and the helicopter was destroyed in the subsequent ground fire. The pilot had completed a condition inspection of the experimental helicopter immediately before the flight.
Factual narrative
On July 18, 1997, at 0930 hours Pacific daylight time, a homebuilt experimental Fronsman Rotorway Exec helicopter, N6323F, was destroyed by a ground fire following a loss of oil pressure while hovering at the Lakeport, California, airport. The helicopter was owned and operated by the pilot and was on a local area personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 0915 on the morning of the accident from the Lakeport airport.
In a statement to Federal Aviation Administration inspectors, the pilot said he was practicing hover operations when the oil pressure began to decrease below red line. By the time the pilot landed at his parking ramp, the oil pressure was at zero. As he exited the helicopter, the pilot noticed smoke and flames coming from the right side of the engine compartment. He was unsuccessful in extinguishing the fire with a portable extinguisher and the helicopter was destroyed in the subsequent ground fire.
The pilot completed a condition inspection on the helicopter immediately prior to the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6323F
- Reported as
- Fronsman Rotorway Exec (ROTORWAY E)
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3237
- Airframe hours
- 150
- Engine
- Rotorway RW152, 152 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Nathan F. Fronsman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 18, 1997 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 102
- Airport
- 1O2 · Lampson Field
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 225 total · 150 in this make and model · 8 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- UKI, 35 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.