# Accident 20230812011319A: Bell 47G-5, Mifflinville, PA, August 12, 2023

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 12, 2023, 09:40 local time
- Place: Mifflinville, PA
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Other, Specify
- Operating rules: Agricultural (Part 137)
- Operator: MTQG
- Location: 41.0046° N, 76.2881° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.0046&lon=-76.2881&mi=10
- Aircraft: N1503L, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N1503L) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Bell 47G-5 (registry code 1181032, https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-47g-5) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming VO-435-B1A (registry code 42201, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-vo-435-b1a) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BELL 47G-5
- Reported engine: LYCOMING VO-435-B1A
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 1,325 total, 490 in this make and model, 50 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA23LA332](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA23LA332) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20230812011319A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

A BELL 47 HELICOPTER WAS AERIAL SPRAYING  A CORN FIELD LOCATED NEAR ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. WHEN IT CONTACTED UTILITY POWER LINES WITH THE LEFT SKID. EVIDENCE SHOWED AT THE SCENE, A PORTION OF THE LEFT SKID AND SPRAY BOOM WITH POWER WIRES ATTACHED WERE HANGING FROM A TREE. THE HELICOPTER WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED AND THE PILOT SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES.

THE HELICOPTER WAS OPERATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 14 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS (CFR) PART 137.

TWO WITNESS’S WERE INTERVIEWED, THE WITNESS WHO LIVED IN THE HOUSE ADJACENT TO THE CORN FIELD STATED SHE HAD HEARD THE NOISE FROM THE HELICOPTER STRIKING THE POWER LINE AND THEN LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND SAW THE HELICOPTER CONTACTING THE GROUND, BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO ADD ANY FURTHER DETAILS.

THE SECOND WITNESS LIVED SOUTH WEST OF THE ACCIDENT SITE, SHE PROVIDED A VIDEO FROM HER PHONE YOU COULD NOT SEE THE HELICOPTER AT THE TIME OF CONTACTING THE WIRES, HOWEVER THE AUDIO WAS CLEAR AND THE ENGINE SOUND WAS SMOOTH AND APPEARED TO BE OPERATING PROPERLY PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ERA23LA332](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA23LA332), Aug 12, 2023: Bell 47G-5 (N1503L), Mifflinville, PA, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to see and avoid powerlines during an aerial application flight.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.