Southwest Florida SW204 N106CP

Summary

On 31 March 1998 at about 14:00 local time, a Southwest Florida SW204 registered N106CP was involved in an accident near Indiantown, Florida, 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

31 March 1998 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Indiantown, Florida, United States

Coordinates

27.0307, -80.4590

Aircraft

Southwest Florida SW204

Registration

N106CP

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA98LA114

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to turbine blade failure caused by operating the engine in an over temperature and over speed condition. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to observe the helicopter's maximum gross lift-off weight limit resulting in exceeding the helicopter's lift-off performance capabilities.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On liftoff from the trailer-mounted helipad, the agricultural spray helicopter experienced engine surging, followed shortly by a complete engine failure, resulting in collision with the bank of an irrigation canal. Subsequent teardown examination of the turbine engine revealed initial failure to be high temperature tensile overload failure, (a combination of temperature and rotational speed) of one or more of the power turbine blades. The lift-off weight of the helicopter was about 169 pounds over the certificated maximum lift-off gross weight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.