- Date
- March 8, 1991, 17:40 local (Mar 9, 1991, 03:40 UTC)
- Place
- Honolulu, HI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2072CBell 206B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910308004809A
- Case key
- 27135
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
Inaccurate fuel consumption calculation by the pilot. A factor was the partial deflation of the emergency flotation equipment.
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
In written and oral statements provided by the pilot and passenger, the aircraft's engine was started about 1420 hours HST. The helicopter departed Honolulu, Hawaii, for a research vessel located about 130 nautical miles south. The pilot was not able to locate the ship and decided to return to Honolulu. The pilot established radio contact with Honolulu TRACON and reported minimum fuel status. About 15 nautical miles south of Honolulu, the engine lost total power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot successfully autorotated to the water, but after touching down the right forward emergency flotation gear deflated, causing the aircraft to sink.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2072C
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3422
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Kenai Air Of Hawaii, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Kenai Air Of Hawaii
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 7,134 total · 1,803 in this make and model · 6,979 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 25 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.