Dowell Vaughn EXEC 90 N6032C

Summary

On 17 May 2008 at about 18:45 local time, a Dowell Vaughn EXEC 90 registered N6032C was involved in an accident near Lafayette, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 May 2008 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Lafayette, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Erie Municipal Airport (KEIK)

Coordinates

40.0172, -105.0797

Aircraft

Dowell Vaughn EXEC 90

Registration

N6032C

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Erie → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW08CA147

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to continue flight after experiencing a loss of rotor RPM. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's low level of experience in helicopters and the leaking oil from the engine oil filler cap.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot stated during a telephonic interview that he was hovering in an open field adjacent to the airport, when he began to lose rotor RPM. He landed briefly to investigate why the helicopter was not flying properly. He then decided to hover taxi back to his hangar and was trying to keep the nose of the helicopter pointed into the wind. While hovering with a slight right crab over a freshly plowed field the helicopter settled, the right skid contacted the soft terrain, and rolled onto the right side. The pilot stated that the loss of rotor RPM was the result of the loose engine oil cap that sprayed engine oil on the main rotor system drive belts. The helicopter main rotor blades, tail rotor blades, fuselage, and tail boom were substantially damaged. There was no post-crash fire and the pilot reported no injuries. Weather was reported at the time as winds from 020 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 30 miles with few clouds at 7,000 feet and a temperature of 72 degrees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.