- Date
- July 24, 1991, 18:50 local (23:50 UTC)
- Place
- Provencal, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3575Bell 47D-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910724029759A
- Case key
- 23369
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
Fuel leakage from the fuel drain valve. A factor was the inaccessibility of suitable terrain for fored landing.
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
A commercial helicopter pilot was maneuvering his aerial burning equipped helicopter for the purpose of burning 15 acres of timber. Fuel level was measured to be just over 11 gallons of fuel remaining to complete the 20-30 minute job. Based on the fuel consumption of 13 to 15 gallons per hour, the aircraft had 40 to 50 minutes of fuel remaining prior to departing. The engine quit 15 minutes after departure due to fuel exhaustion. Fuel had drained out of the fuel cell sump drain valve due to failure or premature deterioration.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3575
- Reported as
- Bell 47D-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- K-7032
- Engine
- Franklin 6V-335-A, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 137
- Operator
- Superior Heli. Of Louisiana
- Registered owner
- Superior Heli. Of Louisiana
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,481 total · 684 in this make and model · 1,262 as pilot in command · 99 in the last 90 days · 36 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N3575 · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.