NYC04LA059 · Robinson R-22
Robinson R-22 · Accident: partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during initial climb
From Nicholasville, KY (no airport) to Nicholasville, KY (no airport)
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC04LA059
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Robinson R-22
- Aircraft type
- Robinson R-22
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N224LC
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Nicholasville, KY (no airport)To Nicholasville, KY (no airport)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Fuel system, line fitting › Loose
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, 100-hour inspection, inadequate
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
During takeoff, at an altitude of about 150 feet, the helicopter lost power and altitude. The pilot then performed an emergency landing to an open field, and a post-crash fire ensued. Examination of the engine revealed the main fuel line to the carburetor was separated and sitting just below its 90-degree elbow fitting. The threads of the elbow fitting displayed severe fire damage and downward melting, and the line end of the fitting was filled with melted aluminum. The "B-nut," used to secure the fuel line to elbow fitting, was loose, and "tooling marks" were observed on the fitting. The last 100-hour inspection was performed approximately 7 hours prior to the accident. According to 14 CFR Part 43 Appendix D - Scope and Detail of Items (as Applicable to the Particular Aircraft) To Be Included in Annual and 100 Hour Inspections, "Each person performing an annual or 100 hour inspection shall inspect (where applicable) components of the engine and nacelle group...(7) Lines, hoses, and clamps - for leaks, improper condition and looseness."
Probable cause
A leak in the fuel system due to a loose fitting, which resulted in a loss of engine power, and the inadequate maintenance inspection, which failed to detect/correct the security of the fitting.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC04LA059
- Event ID
- 20040128X00116
- Case number
- NYC04LA059
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 540a865a2570195a8bfa52390336ccb840f100973d5fa9e31c723f3a58dbc7be; retrieved 2026-09-22T08:00:52.218Z.