- Date
- August 20, 1991, 07:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kettleman City, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4062GBell 47G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910820035189A
- Case key
- 27332
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 by the pilot's improper calculation of the fuel supply and subsequent hard landing.
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 pilot of the helicopter experienced a hard landing after the loss of engine power during an aerial application after 1 hour of flight. The pilot determined his fuel quantity was sufficient for 1 hour and 20 minutes of operation but did not know the quantity of fuel on board at last takeoff. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4062G
- Reported as
- Bell 47G
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7628
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Shafter Aviation, Inc., doing business as Inland Crop Dusters
- Registered owner
- Shafter Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 1,400 in this make and model · 175 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
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 N4062G · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.