- Date
- June 9, 1987, 07:10 local (12:10 UTC)
- Place
- Grafton, ND
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8286Hiller UH-12E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870609019199A
- Case key
- 17243
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 was positioning the helicopter for an aerial application project. Before taking off, he checked the fuel quantity indicator & estimated there was 30 min of fuel on board. The proposed flt was estimated to take 10 min. During flt, the eng lost power & the plt made an autorotation which terminated in a hard landing. A post acdnt exam revealed the fuel tank was empty & the fuel gage test switch was defective. Rprtdly, the defective switch would result in an inaccurate fuel quantity indication. No other pre-acdnt failure or deficiency was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8286
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1543
- Airframe hours
- 2,108
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-B1A, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bonanza Valley Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- Y37 · Park River, ND
- Destination
- GAF · Grafton, ND
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 13,000 total · 1,040 in this make and model · 12,000 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °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 N8286 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.