Sontonastaso MOSQUITO N285XE

Summary

On 29 July 2015 at about 18:00 local time, a Sontonastaso MOSQUITO registered N285XE was involved in an accident near Winchendon, Massachusetts, 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

29 July 2015 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Winchendon, Massachusetts, United States

Coordinates

42.6811, -72.0492

Aircraft

Sontonastaso MOSQUITO

Registration

N285XE

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2015

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jaffrey → Jaffrey

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA291

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to a faulty electrical wiring crimp in the engine’s ignition system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the commercial pilot, about 1 hour into a local flight, he felt the helicopter suddenly "kick from loss of torque." He then observed that the engine rpm had dropped to about 30%, and he was unable to increase engine power using the throttle control. The pilot responded by performing an autorotation to an open field. During the landing, the helicopter touched down hard, and the main rotor system struck the tailboom, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe and tail rotor drive system. During a postaccident engine run, the pilot found that a faulty wiring crimp resulted in a loss of electrical power to the coil pack of one of the cylinders, which resulted in the engine experiencing a partial loss of power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.