Enstrom 480 N704G
25 January 2001 · Dryden, Michigan, United States · Serious injuries
Summary
On 25 January 2001 at about 23:12 local time, a Enstrom 480 registered N704G was involved in an accident near Dryden, Michigan, United States. 3 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 23:12
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Dryden, Michigan, United States
- Coordinates
- 42.9392, -83.1196
- Aircraft
- Enstrom 480
- Registration
- N704G
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Metamora → Dryden
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Night/Dark
- NTSB number
- CHI01LA075
People
1 person was seriously injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Probable cause
The pilots failure to maintain altitude/clearance from the terrain. The dark night was a factor.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The helicopter was on the downwind leg of an approach to land at the pilot's private heliport. The pilot said, "I took off from my hangar on my farm at about 5:00 pm with 2 friends to just go for a flight local. After flying about 40 minutes in the area of my farm we started back home. The weather was perfect with hardly any wind under 5 knots out of [the] north. I started a southernly downwind to my landing pad. We had just got over a frozen lake in the downwind when without warning or any reason to believe anything was wrong, the helicopter drop[ped] straight down on the lake without me moving any flight controls." A postaccident examination of the helicopter was conducted. The helicopter came to rest about 300 feet from the initial impact point on the frozen lake. No anomalies were found with respect to the airframe that could be associated with a pre-impact condition. No anomalies were found with respect to the engine. The end of civil twilight occured at 1807 and the phase of the moon was a waxing crescent with 1% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Enstrom 480 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Sep 1998 | Enstrom 480 | Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Aug 2005 | Enstrom 480 | Goshen, Indiana, United States | Andrew Heytow | Serious injuries | - |
| 29 Jun 2005 | Enstrom 480B | Scofield, Utah, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 24 Jun 2008 | Enstrom 480B | Marinette, Wisconsin, United States | Enstrom Helicopter Corporation | No injuries | - |
| 28 May 2009 | Enstrom 480B | Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 10 May 2017 | Enstrom 480B | Fundres, Italy | - | Fatal | 1 |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 2001 | Beechcraft C23 | St. Helen, Michigan, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 22 Jul 2001 | Cessna 182T | Fowlerville, Michigan, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 20 Jul 2001 | Cessna U206G | Freemont, Michigan, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 28 Aug 2001 | Champion 7GCAA | Romeo, Michigan, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 28 Aug 2001 | Dassault/Sud FAN JET FALCON | Detroit, Michigan, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 12 Jun 2001 | Giackino EXEC 162F | Manistique, Michigan, United States | - | No injuries | - |