- Date
- December 13, 1985, 05:59 local (13:59 UTC)
- Place
- Madera, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3107GHiller H-23A
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19851213075619A
- Case key
- 25037
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 helicopter crashed during a local frost protection flight. After about one hour of light, in dark night time conditions, fog appeared suddenly and the pilot became disoriented and crashed into the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3107G
- Reported as
- Hiller H-23A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 236
- Airframe hours
- 1,113
- Engine
- Franklin 6V-335-B, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Federico Helicopters
- Registered owner
- James And William Larsen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 10, 1985 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- Madera, 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
- 39
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 3,285 total · 3 in this make and model · 3,120 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Temperature
- 28 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.