- Date
- April 4, 1988, 13:58 local (20:58 UTC)
- Place
- Bakersfield, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N646JSHiller UH-12D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880404070959A
- Case key
- 25980
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 encountered weather while enroute to its dest and diverted to an alternate arpt. It overflew the alternate and, after the engine failed from fuel exhaustion, crashed during an autorotative forced landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N646JS
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1299
- Airframe hours
- 4,010
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-C2A, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- West Farm Air Inc.
- Registered owner
- Smith, James R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special); Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 10, 1987 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- 3CA4 · Huron, CA
- Destination
- WJF · Lancaster, CA
- Airport
- L45 · Bakersfield Muni
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 8,168 total · 85 in this make and model · 8,023 as pilot in command · 114 in the last 90 days · 85 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BLF, 7 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 N646JS · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.