- Date
- May 28, 2015, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Pierre, SD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N112SHBell 47G 3B 1
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 27, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150528007859A
- Case key
- 91268
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 inadequate preflight fuel planning that resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and the pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter during the subsequent autorotation landing.
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 during cruise flight the helicopter's engine had a total loss of power and he made an emergency landing in a wheat field. He said the main rotor blades contacted the tail boom and sheared off the tail rotor during the landing. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor, tail rotor drive shaft, and tail boom. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported using a placard as a reference for a fuel tank sight gauge. A postaccident examination by an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector revealed approximately three and one-half gallons of fuel in the right fuel tank and approximately one and one-half gallons of fuel in the left fuel tank. This make and model of helicopter has a capacity of 61 gallons of fuel of which 57.5 gallons of fuel is useable and three and one-half gallons of fuel are unusable. The fuel lines to the engine are located in the rear of the fuel tanks. A pitch attitude change such as a banking turn or nose down attitude, could have caused a disruption in fuel flow to the engine with the low fuel levels that were found in the fuel tanks.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during cruise flight the helicopter's engine had a total loss of power and he made an emergency landing in a wheat field. He said the main rotor blades contacted the tail boom and sheared off the tail rotor during the landing. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor, tail rotor drive shaft, and tail boom. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported using a placard as a reference for a fuel tank sight gauge. A postaccident examination by an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector revealed approximately three and one-half gallons of fuel in the right fuel tank and approximately one and one-half gallons of fuel in the left fuel tank. This make and model of helicopter has a capacity of 61 gallons of fuel of which 57.5 gallons of fuel is useable and three and one-half gallons of fuel are unusable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N112SH
- Reported as
- Bell 47G 3B 1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 6567
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 7,343
- Engine
- Allison 250-C18, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Scotts Helicopter Service
- Registered owner
- Scotts Helicopter Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special); Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 21, 2015
- Destination
- Fort Pierre, SD
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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 12, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,000 total · 550 in this make and model · 60 in the last 90 days · 47 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.84 inHg
- Observed at
- KPIR, 21 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2015, 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.