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Atlas / NTSB / CEN10CA317

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN10CA317

2010-06-13 Plymouth, Michigan, United States Airport · 1D2 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N47WK

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BEECH G58

Year of manufacture

2007 · 3 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR IO-550-C (300 hp)

Seats / Engines

6 seats · 2 engines

Last airworthiness date

20170421

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A5C0BF

Registrant of record

57 BW LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to use carburetor heat, which led to carburetor icing and a loss of engine power following takeoff.

Factual narrative

The helicopter experienced a total loss of engine power about 2 miles northeast of the departure airport. The pilot then performed an autorotation onto a grass area near interstate 275. The helicopter sustained substantial damage, which included damage to the main rotor blades and left side of the fuselage. The pilot was uninjured. Examination of the helicopter revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation and the installation of a carburetor temperature gauge. The pilot stated that he did not use carburetor heat during or after the takeoff from the departure airport. Weather conditions at the time winds 290 degrees at 9 knots, gusts to 17 knots, 10 statute miles, 2,900 feet overcast, temperature 23 degrees Celsius, dew point 17 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 30.00 inches. According to the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart, the conditions were conducive to serious icing at glide power. The helicopter experienced a total loss of engine power about 2 miles northeast of the departure airport. The pilot then performed an autorotation onto a grass area. The helicopter sustained substantial damage, including damage to the main rotor blades and left side of the fuselage. The pilot was uninjured. Examination of the helicopter revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. A carburetor temperature gauge had been installed in the helicopter. The pilot stated that he did not use carburetor heat during or after the takeoff from the departure airport. Weather conditions at the time winds 290 degrees at 9 knots, gusts to 17 knots, 10 statute miles, 2,900 feet overcast, temperature 23 degrees Celsius, dew point 17 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 30.00 inches. According to the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart, the conditions were conducive to serious icing at glide power. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Engine fuel and control-Fuel control/carburetor-Related operating info - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_CEN10CA317.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗