- Date
- April 27, 2012, 08:45 local (12:45 UTC)
- Place
- Hershey, PA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N16EPBell 206B
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120427008199A
- Case key
- 83492
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 diverted attention while performing aerial application at low altitude, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to adjust the control friction to the position he was accustomed.
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 reported that before the accident flight, there was a trainee pilot in the agricultural application helicopter who preferred no friction on the controls. Once the trainee pilot left, the accident pilot forgot to adjust the control friction. During the accident flight, the helicopter was spraying a wheat field at 55 mph and about 10 feet above the ground. The pilot let go of the collective to adjust the helicopter's computer. The collective subsequently lowered and the helicopter impacted terrain, coming to rest on its side, with the tail boom separated. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that prior to the accident flight, there was a trainee pilot in the agricultural application helicopter, who preferred no friction on the controls. Once the trainee left, the pilot forgot to adjust the control friction. During the accident flight, the helicopter was spraying a wheat field at 55 mph, about 10 feet above the ground. The pilot let go of the collective to adjust the helicopter's "Crophawk" computer. The collective subsequently lowered and the helicopter impacted terrain. The pilot added that there were no preimact mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that during the impact, the tailboom separated and the helicopter came to rest on its right side.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16EP
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3081
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Ag Air LLC
- Registered owner
- Southern Helicopter Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 29, 2012
- Departed
- THV · York, PA
- Destination
- THV · York, PA
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 9, 2010
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,900 total · 2,900 in this make and model · 4,800 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 14 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- CXY, 10 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 13, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.