- Date
- May 13, 1994, 10:58 local (14:58 UTC)
- Place
- Ormond Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N520PRRichmond Rotorway Executive
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 18, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940513010839A
- Case key
- 37543
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 in command's improper autorotation following partial loss of engine power which resulted in an inflight collision with a fence prior to ground touchdown.
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 helicopter lost engine power and while making a autorotative forced landing in a pasture collided with a fence. Examination of the engine after the accident indicated the nos. 1 and 2 cylinder exhaust valves were being held partially open by excessive carbon build-up.
Factual narrative
On May 13, 1994, about 1058 eastern daylight time, a Richmond Rotorway Executive, N520PR, registered to Donald R. Redman, crashed while making a forced landing following loss of engine power, in Ormond Beach, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The helicopter was substantially damaged and the pilot received serious injuries. The flight originated at Ormond Beach, Florida, minutes before the flight.
A witness in the area stated she observed the helicopter flying westbound at about 500 feet and then turn around and fly eastbound toward the Ormond Beach Airport. She then heard the helicopter's engine "pop" a few times and then appear to lose power. The helicopter began to descend. The helicopter collided with a fence,flipped, and crashed to the ground.
Postcrash examination of the engine by an FAA inspector indicated the spark plugs for each of four cylinders had normal combustion deposits. The nos. 1 and 2 cylinder exhaust valves had excessive carbon build up and carbon prevented the valves from closing. The nos. 1 and 2 cylinder walls were glazed and the piston rings were not creating a tight seal. (See attached inspector statement.)
The pilot did not file an NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report as requested by the NTSB to him and to his attorney.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N520PR
- Reported as
- Richmond Rotorway Executive (ROTORWAY E)
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2938MJ
- Engine
- Rotorway RW-152, 152 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Redman, Donald R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 216 total · 159 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAB, 10 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.