NTSB reports a blade separation
NTSB Identification: CEN15FA126
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, January 26, 2015 in Erie, CO
Aircraft: ENSTROM 280FX, registration: N86235
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On January 26, 2015 about 1202 mountain standard time (MST), an Enstrom 280FX, N86235, was destroyed when it impacted terrain during final approach for landing at the Erie Municipal Airport (EIK), Erie, Colorado. Both the instructor pilot and student pilot were fatally injured and the helicopter was destroyed. The helicopter was registered to New Course Aviation Company and operated by Mountain One Helicopters as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight which operated without a flight plan.
A witness reported that the helicopter was on final approach for landing on the runway at what seemed a steep angle of descent. As the helicopter descended, she heard a loud "pop" and the helicopter began to rotate and then the main rotor blades departed off the top of the helicopter. The remainder of the helicopter fell to the ground, impacted, and then "exploded."
NTSB: Helicopter lost main rotor blades before fatal Erie crash
The helicopter that crashed in Erie last week -- killing both people on board -- lost its main rotor after coming in for a landing at a "steep angle," according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash happened just after noon on Jan. 26 at Erie Municipal Airport, 395 Airport Road, according to the report. The helicopter, an Enstrom 280FX owned by New Course Aviation Company and operated by Erie-based Mountain One Helicopters, was on a training flight and did not have a flight plan.
Mountain One Helicopters told the Daily Camera last week that the flight would not have left the airport area.
According to the NTSB report, a witness said the helicopter was preparing to land on the runway "at what seemed a steep angle of descent."
The witness said that as the helicopter began to descend, she heard a loud "pop."
"The helicopter began to rotate and then the main rotor blades departed off the top of the helicopter," the report said. "The remainder of the helicopter fell to the ground, impacted and then 'exploded.'"
A final report on the crash likely will take several more months.
Both the instructor, Alex Viola, 23, of Arkansas City, Kan., and the student, Amy Wood, 25, of Boulder, were fatally injured in the crash. The report did not say who was believed to have been flying the helicopter during the crash.
Officials with Mountain One Helicopters also said they did not know who was flying, though they did say Wood was nearing her certification.
Mountain One Helicopters operates out of Erie at 395 Airport Drive, just south of the airport.
According to his biography on the company's website, Viola specialized in initial flight training and ground instruction for private and commercial students, and he had been flying since 2007.