- Date
- March 25, 2025, 07:49 local (12:49 UTC)
- Place
- Ruston, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6006KHiller UH12-ET
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Baton Rouge FSDO
- Case key
- 199948
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper fuel planning and fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and subsequent impact with terrain during an autorotation.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot departed on an aerial application flight in the helicopter to continue spraying a field with herbicide. The pilot stated that he became preoccupied with touching up areas, which took longer than expected. While flying across the field to begin the next spray pass, the engine experienced a total loss of power, and he immediately knew that it was due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot performed an autorotation and landed hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the main rotor blades and the tailboom. The pilot stated that after the landing, he checked the helicopter fuel tank, and it was empty. There were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6006K
- Reported as
- Hiller UH12-ET
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- HA3083
- Built
- 1983
- Airframe hours
- 12,030.2
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Summit Helicopters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Summit Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 24, 2025
- Destination
- Same as departure
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- March 24, 2024
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 944 total · 11 in this make and model · 944 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 53 °F, dew point 51 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- RSN, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.7 MB in all.