WPR26LA270

On July 21, 2026, about 0815 mountain daylight time, an Enstrom F-28F helicopter, N8624B, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Malad City, Idaho. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger were not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot in command, who was positioned in the left seat reported that the intent for the flight was to fly around the local area. After conducting a preflight inspection with no anomalies noted, he started the engine, conducted engine runup checks, increased the engine and rotor RPM to 100 percent and ascended to a hover. While conducting the helicopters in ground effect hover checks, he noticed that the manifold pressure was high, but still in the green. The pilot air taxied from the hangar parking area to the north toward the taxiway intersection near the approach end of runway 35 and saw that the manifold pressure was abnormally high. He landed the helicopter on the asphalt ramp to assess the instruments and conduct another magneto check, but when he rolled the throttle to flight idle, the engine lost total power. The pilot stated that with the engine and rotor RPM still married, he immediately engaged the starter and the engine restarted, but he noticed smoke emanating from the right side of the engine compartment, and there were flames on the lower left side of the engine. He attempted to shut down the engine by pulling the fuel/air mixture control on the instrument panel to the idle cut off position, but the engine continued to operate. He then turned the ignition switch to the off position to no avail, and he engaged the manual fuel shut-off located between the pilot and passenger seat, but the engine continued to operate. Unable to shut down the engine, the pilot and the passenger egressed the helicopter and searched for a fire extinguisher. Unable to locate a fire extinguisher, they contacted first responders, remained a safe distance from the burning helicopter and waited for the fire department to extinguish the blaze. The wreckage has been recovered to a secure facility for further examination.