ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 266143
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| Date: | Friday 30 July 2021 |
| Time: | 15:25 LT |
| Type: |  Enstrom 280FX Shark |
| Owner/operator: | Beta Air LLC |
| Registration: | N36DK |
| MSN: | 2003 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1985 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2195 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming HIO-360-F1AD |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Colchester Causeway, near Burlington International Airport (BTV/KBTV), -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Plattsburgh International Airport, NY (PBG/KPBG) |
| Burlington International Airport, VT (BTV/KBTV) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial pilot reported that while enroute he smelled and then observed smoke in the cockpit. He also observed a rapidly rising exhaust gas temperature despite moving the mixture to full rich. The pilot initiated a precautionary landing during which the helicopter experienced a partial and then total loss of engine power. During the final segment of the autorotation, the helicopter impacted trees and landed hard on a causeway.
Postaccident examination of the engine found significant soot and thermal damage, which precluded a determination of the specific source of the in-flight engine fire. However, one cause of the fire could be eliminated. Specifically, the heaviest area of thermal damage was located around the No. 3 cylinder near the turbocharger. The outer portion of the turbocharger displayed significant thermal damage, but the turbocharger exhaust and inlet clamps were intact and remained tightly installed with safety wires present. Therefore, leakage of exhaust gases from the turbocharger was not the cause of the in-flight fire.
The external damage to the turbocharger indicated that its high temperature surfaces were possible ignition sources for an ignitable liquid, such as lubricating oil or fuel. The flexible fuel and oil lines all displayed significant thermal damage, and some were destroyed by fire. Several oil lines were located near the thermal damage in the forward left portion of the engine compartment. Therefore, lubricating oil from these lines was a possible fuel source for the fire. In addition, because the flexible fuel lines were either damaged or destroyed, fuel from these lines could not be eliminated as a source of fuel for the in-flight fire.
Probable Cause: An in-flight fire originating in the engine compartment near the turbocharger from a source that could not be determined, which resulted in a loss of engine power and led to an autorotation and a hard landing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB ERA21LA309
FAA register: https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N36DK
Location
Media:
1 injured in Colchester Causeway helicopter crash #vthttps://t.co/qH8dMNDQ7H pic.twitter.com/4PxWQATput
— Channel 3 News (@wcax) July 31, 2021
Pilot survives helicopter crash on Colchester Causeway https://t.co/Rjb23oBlQZ
— MyNBC5 (@MyNBC5) July 31, 2021
UPDATE: Injured helicopter pilot walks away from crash on Colchester Causeway https://t.co/U9MbZ7AXVx
— Local 22 & Local 44 (@WVNYWFFF) July 31, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Jul-2021 21:45 | Geno | Added |
| 31-Jul-2021 00:28 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 31-Jul-2021 00:31 | RobertMB | Updated [Damage, Narrative] |
| 31-Jul-2021 16:12 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Phase, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 31-Jul-2021 21:59 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2021 06:19 | harro | Updated [Registration, Cn, Phase, Source] |
| 01-Aug-2021 20:24 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Phase, Narrative] |
| 02-Aug-2021 14:35 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Jun-2023 08:17 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [[Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Nature, Source, Narrative]] |
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