- Date
- April 6, 1984, 08:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Farmington, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5743HBell 206B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840406016329A
- Case key
- 16359
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
While climbing, there was a heavy smell of fuel. At aprx 150 ft AGL on a precautionary landing, the eng quit. The helicopter impacted hard, collapsing the skids, & the main rotor blades sheared of the tail boom. During an investigation, the fuel hose b-nut (connected to the inlet side of the fuel filter) was found loose & less than finger tight. Moving the fuel hose caused a steady stream of fuel to flow outward from the b-nut. Also, the b-nut on the inlet side of the fuel filter was found to be finger tight & could be backed off with finger force. An annual/300 hour inspection had been performed on 1/10/84, 39 hours prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5743H
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3042
- Airframe hours
- 784
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Executive/Corporate · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ray L. Atchison Construction
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 10, 1984 · 39 hours before
- Destination
- Cortez, CO
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 6,500 total · 500 in this make and model · 6,380 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.