ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 370272
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| Date: | Monday 11 December 2006 |
| Time: | 23:17 LT |
| Type: |  Bell 407 |
| Owner/operator: | Cj Systems Aviation Group, Inc. |
| Registration: | N302LE |
| MSN: | 53572 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2003 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1865 hours |
| Engine model: | Rolls-Royce Turbomeca 250-C47B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Raytown, MO -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Clinton, MO |
| Kansas City, MO | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The air ambulance helicopter executed an emergency landing on an elementary school parking lot following a loss of engine power. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the incident. The pilot stated that he heard a bang and got a low frequency vibration during cruise flight. The helicopter received minor damage due to internal engine components exiting the engine collector and exhaust stack. Examination of the third stage turbine wheel noted high cycle fatigue features on the fracture surface of one of the blades. The fatigue initiated at the trailing edge of the airfoil and propagated 0.515 inch before a fast fracture separation. Although a small area of porosity was observed in the microstructure adjacent to the fracture, it did not intersect the fracture surface, and no evidence of porosity was observed on the fracture surface. Chemistry and hardness were as specified. Given the high cycle features, good material properties, and lack of a stress-concentrating defect at the origin, the fatigue could be secondary to some other event that produced unusual loading or vibrations in the blade.
Probable Cause: The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to third stage turbine wheel blade fatigue and subsequent separation, which resulted in an emergency landing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CHI07IA042
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Mar-2024 08:56 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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