300cbi incident

[BlackHwk27]

Posting a message from Northeast Helicopters:

 

 

 

 

 

NEH is posting this message in an effort to inform other pilots of a potential safety issue.

 

On May 1, 2008 our Schweizer 300CBi with 386 hours TTSN experienced the following incident:

 

While hovering OGE the manifold pressure gauge went from a steady setting of 26 to 27 to exceeding 30 inches without pilot input.

 

Immediately following the manifold pressure gauge change the engine and rotor RPM began to decay to the point that level flight could not be maintained.

 

The pilot landed the aircraft between a row of trees, however, the main rotor contacted the trees and the aircraft rolled over. Both pilots exited the aircraft without serious injury.

 

As more information becomes available with regards to the cause of this incident we will post the results on this website as a source of information for other pilots.

 

We congratulate our NEH pilots on a job well done!

 

Owners,

John and Rhonda Boulette

Northeast Helicopters

[slick1537]

Yea it is to bad, have to wait for the NTSB to see what happened.

Edited May 5, 2008 by slick1537

[FlyNHighNFast]

Glad to hear the crew was not injured. Please let us know the outcome of the investigation.

 

(I would have trained with NEH, if I still lived in CT)

[slick1537]

I am training with NEH. They have a very good team of instructors, and the aircraft are very well maintained. Such an incident is odd I think.

Edited May 5, 2008 by slick1537

[Jeff]

Glad the occupants are okay. I find it hard to believe that the manifold pressure went to 30 in.Hg. I suppose it is possible if they were operating near sea level OGE with a station pressure on the surface sufficiently higher than 30 in.Hg. Barring any mechanical problems, I'm sure the NTSB will find the cause to be pilot's failure to maintain sufficient rotor RPM... fill in the rest.

[apiaguy]

hmm, isn't that called "the engine died"?

[Goldy]

hmm, isn't that called "the engine died"?

 

Funny, that was my first thought too !

 

Assuming the engine was still running when they hit the ground, then its definitely something else. But I have to say, I would rather hear of these things straight from the school...as in this case.

 

Normally, we all sit and speculate, and in the end the school suffers some bad rep...better for them when they start the dialogue. And, how else do we find issues that require AD's...only thru accidents and near misses.

[RHS1]

Funny, that was my first thought too !

 

Assuming the engine was still running when they hit the ground, then its definitely something else. But I have to say, I would rather hear of these things straight from the school...as in this case.

 

Normally, we all sit and speculate, and in the end the school suffers some bad rep...better for them when they start the dialogue. And, how else do we find issues that require AD's...only thru accidents and near misses.

What does the manifold pressure read when the engine is not running? The answer is ambient pressure, so if the engine abruptly quits quits, loss of power equals decaying RRPM and manifold pressure would rise to outside ambient pressure. Of course this does not mean it could not of been many other things however that is my guess in any case it sounds like THE CREW DID A FINE JOB OF EXECUTING AN EMERGENCY SET DOWN AND NOT GETTING HURT TO BOOT!!

[Jeff]

What does the manifold pressure read when the engine is not running? The answer is ambient pressure, so if the engine abruptly quits quits, loss of power equals decaying RRPM and manifold pressure would rise to outside ambient pressure. Of course this does not mean it could not of been many other things however that is my guess in any case it sounds like THE CREW DID A FINE JOB OF EXECUTING AN EMERGENCY SET DOWN AND NOT GETTING HURT TO BOOT!!

 

I agree with the engine failure speculation crowd here, and admittedly didn't think of that. The school's post implies that something other than an engine failure caused the incident. I got the impression that the school was trying to make us belive that a malfunctioning MAP gauge caused the whole thing. I think there's some "spin" going on here. The school didn't have to post anything, but since they did, they should be more forthright about the facts.

 

(Edit: punctuation errors)

Edited May 6, 2008 by Jeff

[goromadgo]

Funny, that was my first thought too !

 

Assuming the engine was still running when they hit the ground, then its definitely something else. But I have to say, I would rather hear of these things straight from the school...as in this case.

 

Normally, we all sit and speculate, and in the end the school suffers some bad rep...better for them when they start the dialogue. And, how else do we find issues that require AD's...only thru accidents and near misses.

 

As the comedic genius George Carlin points, wouldn't a near miss be a hit...? I'd prefer a near hit to a near miss!