- Date
- July 24, 1991, 15:15 local (Jul 25, 1991, 01:15 UTC)
- Place
- Kahului, HI
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N766MPAerospatiale AS350B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 10, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910724048179A
- Case key
- 27312
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
A non-mechanical loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and subsequent hard landing by the pilot. Contributing to the accident was a malfunctioning fuel low level indication system.
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 sightseeing helicopter landed hard during an autorotation to sloping terrain after experiencing a total loss of engine power. Examination of the aircraft found 2 gallons of fuel remaining in the tanks. Afterwards, fuel was added and the engine started normally with no mechanical failures or malfunctions noted. The fuel quantity indication system revealed a malfunction of the low fuel indicator light. The aircraft had been airborne for about 45 minutes prior to the crash.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N766MP
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS350B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1301
- Airframe hours
- 6,959
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B, 641 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Papillon Airways, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Papillon Airways, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 3, 1991 · 86 hours before
- Departed
- OGG · Kahului, HI
- Flight plan
- Company 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
- 38
- Certificates
- Commercial, Military
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,205 total · 346 in this make and model · 1,733 as pilot in command · 316 in the last 90 days · 94 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °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 N766MP · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.