Enstrom 280FX accident near Erie, CO
On January 26, 2015, an Enstrom 280FX (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Erie, CO. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 26, 2015
- Place
- Erie, CO
- Aircraft
- Enstrom 280FX · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.016°N, 105.049°W
- NTSB ID
- 20150128X02848
Official records · CEN15FA126
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT 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 Erie Municipal Airport (EIK), Erie, Colorado. Both the instructor pilot and student pilot were fatally injured. 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. According to a witness interview, the helicopter was on final approach to land on the runway at what seemed like a steep angle of descent. As the helicopter descended, she heard a loud "pop." After the pop, the helicopter began to rotate and then the main rotor (MR) blades separated from the top of the helicopter. The remainder of the helicopter descended to ground impact and then "exploded." All three MR blades were found during the on-scene investigation and were identified as blades #1 through #3. The #2 MR blade was found separated from the MR head, which still contained MR blades #1 and #3. Post accident examination revealed that the #2 MR blade had separated due to a fractured spindle. PERSONNEL INFORMATION AIRCRAFT INFORMATION The helicopter, an Enstrom 280FX, was a three-seat, single-engine helicopter (serial number 2002) manufactured in 1985. The three-bladed MR system was powered by a turbo-charged Lycoming HIO-360-F1AD engine rated at 225 horsepower at 3050 rpm. The inboard end of each main rotor blade is att
Probable cause
An in-flight failure of the helicopter's #2 main rotor spindle due to undetected fatigue cracking, which resulted in an in-flight breakup. Contributing to failure were the nonconforming thread root radius of the spindle and the manufacturer's failure to include a bending moment within the spindle threads when performing the fatigue analysis during initial design of the spindle.
More accidents in CO
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-14, Nov 15, 1987
- Grumman Gulfstream III, Mar 30, 2001
- Beech 1900, Jan 28, 2026
- Douglas DC3, Mar 9, 2019
- Piper PA-31-350, Dec 3, 2014
Browse: Colorado · Enstrom aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
