McDonnell Douglas MD-600N N810LA

Summary

On 10 May 2002 at about 17:15 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-600N registered N810LA was involved in an accident near Deland, Florida, United States. 3 people were 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

10 May 2002 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Deland, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Deland Muni-Sidney H Taylor Fi (DED)

Coordinates

29.0667, -81.2844

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-600N

Registration

N810LA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Orlando → Fernandina Beac

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL02LA095

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to follow the FADEC malfunction checklist that resulted in the loss of rotor RPM, and the pilot's improper use of the flight controls during the precautionary landing that resulted in a hard landing. A factor was the malfunction of the FADEC unit for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, while en route to Fernandina Beach, Florida, he observed an auto re-lite master caution indication on the annunciator panel. He diverted to Deland Airport to make a precautionary landing. On approach he observed an electronic control unit (ECU) failure indication. The pilot switched the ECU switch from auto to manual twice, and the engine started to over speed. He then rolled the throttle back twice, and received a "fuel flow fix" voice warning indication. The engine started to making loud "bangs" like a compressor stall. The pilot stated he tried to maintain forward airspeed to clear trees. As the helicopter cleared the trees and power lines, the pilot received a voice warning "low rotor". During the descent to land the pilot increased collective to arrest the descent. The "low rotor" warning light came on again and the helicopter landed hard. The main rotor blades came in contact with the tail boom and severed it from the airframe. According to the FADEC malfunction procedures, occasional electronic transients may produce a false ECU fail indication. If ECU fail indication persists after 2 reset attempts, place switch in MANUAL. With the twistgrip, manually control Np/Nr at 100%. According to an operational "NOTE", occasional RPM transients between 90% and 106.4% are allowable as long as the maximum or minimum RPM limits are not exceeded. The pilot is advised to land as soon as practical. During the approach the main rotor blades came in contact with the tail boom and severed it from the airframe. Inspection of the engine and engine accessories revealed no evidence of pre-impact part failures.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.