- Date
- September 16, 1992, 12:13 local (17:13 UTC)
- Place
- Booneville, AR
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N291FWBell 47-J2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920916037079A
- Case key
- 18567
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 failure to maintain adequate rotor RPM during autorotative landing. Factors were fuel exhaustion, the pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations, and the pilot not refueling the helicopter.
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 pilot had flown the helicopter on the power line aerial observation flight for approximately 3 hours and 8 minutes when a power loss occurred. He initiated an autorotation to an open field. During the flare, he failed to maintain adequate rotor RPM and the main rotor blades severed the tailboom. The helicopter landed hard. The owner of the helicopter drained a small amount of fuel from the tanks and said that he was certain that lack of fuel caused the forced landing. The pilot performed a calculated fuel consumption check two days before the accident which he said showed a fuel burn rate of 13.7 gallons per hour or 3 hours and 47 minutes of flight time. He used a stop watch in the cockpit to account for flight time. The manufacturer states the fuel system holds 47.5 gallons of usable fuel, the engine's fuel burn rate is 19 gallons per hour at cruise, and lists the maximum cruise time as 3 hours and 18 minutes with the engine leaned.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N291FW
- Reported as
- Bell 47-J2A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3303
- Airframe hours
- 5,494
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-B1B3, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Ruggles, Don C., doing business as Helicopter Southwest
- Registered owner
- Ruggles, Don C.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 16, 1992 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- M39 · Mena, AR
- Destination
- 4M2 · Booneville, AR
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 8,134 total · 104 in this make and model · 7,035 as pilot in command · 186 in the last 90 days · 38 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.