DFW06LA141 · Robinson R44
Robinson R44 · Accident: loss of engine power while maneuvering
From Garland/Dfw Heloplex Heliport (T57) to Payne Springs, TX
Event
- NTSB case
- DFW06LA141
- 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 R44
- Aircraft type
- Robinson R44
- 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
- N42KJ
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Garland/Dfw Heloplex Heliport (T57), Garland, TXTo Payne Springs, TX
- 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
- Maneuvering
- 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
- Loss of engine power
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Reason for occurrence undetermined
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
A 1,350-hour private helicopter pilot verified that the helicopter's fuel tanks were full, free of contamination, and the engine oil level was "normal" prior to departure. The pilot and 2 passengers then departed for a private residence located near a lake; no abnormalities were noted during departure or en route to the residence. The pilot reported, "that within a few miles of his destination, he reduced power to 21 inches and gradually descended to 900 feet mean sea level (msl)". Without any indication of a problem, the engine lost power. The pilot lowered collective just as the low-rotor warning light illuminated and horn sounded. The pilot flared about 50 feet above the water; however, the helicopter impacted the surface of the water with "significant force". The helicopter was retrieved from the lake and a visual inspection of the engine failed to note any pre-impact abnormalities. An external power source was connected to the helicopter, and the "manual override" was used to disengage the engine and rotor/transmission. The engine was then turned by hand; thumb compression was obtained on all cylinders and engine continuity was established through the engine. Additionally, the carburetor heat control was found in the "automatic" position. A review of the Carburetor Icing chart reveals that the temperature/dew point spread, puts the flight in the "Serious icing - descent power" operating realm. A check of the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) fuel records revealed that on 27 May, 2006, the helicopter was filled with 38.5 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. On 29 June, 2006, under the supervision of an NTSB representative, an additional examination of the engine was conducted at the factory. Both the ignition and fuel systems were checked. The engine was removed from the airframe, placed in an engine test cell and prepared for an engine run. The engine was run at various power settings for 20 minutes. A reason for the reported loss of engine power could not be determined.
Probable cause
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record DFW06LA141
- Event ID
- 20060605X00683
- Case number
- DFW06LA141
- 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. 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: 625c185ac06fe5c7176998082a58b2b909f1be7a8056a1b1758fc0275a6c26df; retrieved 2026-09-21T08:57:47.700Z.