- Date
- May 20, 1985, 08:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lindsay, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1316XBell 47-G5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850520018449A
- Case key
- 24853
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 acft made a forced landing in a beet field following a noise in the eng or transmission. After he heard a noise the plt auto-rotated and during the hard landing the acft was damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1316X
- Reported as
- Bell 47-G5
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7827
- Airframe hours
- 5,662
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-BIA, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- M&W Flying Service, Inc., doing business as N/A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 24, 1984 · 120 hours before
- Departed
- PTV · Porterville, CA
- Destination
- Lindsay, CA
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 16,000 total · 6,000 in this make and model · 16,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VIS, 15 nm away
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 N1316X · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.