- Date
- July 4, 1983, 20:45 local (Jul 5, 1983, 01:45 UTC)
- Place
- Wheeler, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7069JBell 47G-4A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830704031229A
- Case key
- 12243
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt reported that while he was returning for another load of chemicals, the eng missed a couple of times, then smoothed out for about 1 min. After that, the eng missed again, then quit while the helicopter was at aprx 150 ft AGL. The plt chose to clear over corn & land in a bean field. While clearing the corn, his rotor RPM decayed, the helicopter landed hard & the main rotor blades hit the tail boom. About 1 pint of water was found in the fuel tank sumps & rust was found in the fuel valve.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7069J
- Reported as
- Bell 47G-4A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7737
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-B1B3, 280 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Rowco, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 21, 1983 · 3 hours before
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
- 61
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 5,175 total · 5,000 as pilot in command · 103 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 180° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N7069J · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.