- Date
- April 14, 1989, 11:55 local (18:55 UTC)
- Place
- Bolinas, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N14490Hiller UH-12D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 22, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890414009879A
- Case key
- 26387
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 poor preflight planning in that he did not accurately account for the fuel on board the aircraft as a basis for fuel consumption calculations thereby causing the engine to stop producing power because of a lack of fuel. Contributing to the accident was the inaccurate fuel gauge and clock in the aircraft that the pilot was aware of before the flight.
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
During an external load operation, the engine lost power. The pilot autorotated into a surf tidal pool resulting in a hard landing. The pilot reported that the helicopter ran out of fuel. The pilot stated that he normally 'staked' the fuel tanks before approximately 95% of his flights but indicated that he did not check the fuel level before this flight. He also indicated that both the fuel gauge and the clock in the aircraft were not working properly prior to the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14490
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1003
- Airframe hours
- 2,098
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-C2A, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 133
- Operator
- Mountain Air Helicopter
- Registered owner
- Carson Leasing & Equity Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · March 17, 1989 · 33 hours before
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,164 total · 215 in this make and model · 3,917 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 32 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 315° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
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 N14490 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.