- Date
- September 28, 1989, 06:50 local (11:50 UTC)
- Place
- Bloomington, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N95KSHughes 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890928037059A
- Case key
- 34864
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
Failure of the engine crankshaft. The light conditions at dawn and the vehicles were considered to be contributing factors.
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 was being flown on an early morning, rush hour, traffic watch. The plt rprtd the helicopter was at about 500 ft AGL & 20 KTS when the eng failed. He began an autorotation to a parking lot. Just before landing, he saw the lights of a car as it entered into the parking lot. With parked cars elsewhere in the parking lot, he elected to shorten his apch path to land in another area. After slowing the helicopter to land at the alternate location, there was insufficient inertia left in the rotor blades to cushion the landing. The helicopter touched down hard, damaging the undercarriage. An exam of the eng revealed the crankshaft had failed between the #2 & #3 cheeks. The eng had a total operational time of 2373 hrs & had 998 hrs of operation since the last overhaul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N95KS
- Reported as
- Hughes 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1180735
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- J.R. Copter Ltd.
- Registered owner
- J.R. Copters Ltd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- STP · St Paul, MN
- Destination
- STP
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,857 total · 1,161 in this make and model · 1,516 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 200° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MSP, 15 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.