- Date
- August 31, 1994, 07:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Salinas, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N51852Texas Helicopter M74
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940831024459A
- Case key
- 28844
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
fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and in-flight fuel consumption monitoring.
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 said he departed the company base and went to a field near Salinas where he sprayed the crops with chemicals for 1 1/2 hours. The pilot said he 'ran out of gas' while proceeding to a nearby company truck for another load of chemicals and fuel. The helicopter landed hard and the main rotor severed the tail boom.
Factual narrative
On August 31, 1994, at 0730 Pacific daylight time, a Texas Helicopters M74, N51852, sustained damage during a hard landing from an autorotation after an engine failure near Salinas, California. The helicopter was owned and operated by Gomes Farm Air Service, Inc., of Castroville, California, and was engaged in aerial application operations. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated at Castroville, California, on the morning of the accident at 0600.
According to the pilot's verbal statement to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors from the San Jose, California, Flight Standards District Office, he departed the company base and went to a field near Salinas where he sprayed the crops with chemicals. The pilot said he "ran out of gas" while proceeding to a nearby company truck for another load of chemicals and fuel. The helicopter landed hard and the main rotor severed the tail boom.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51852
- Reported as
- Texas Helicopter M74
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 78-020
- Engine
- Lycoming O-435, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Gomes Farm Air Service, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Gomes Farm Air Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- 54Q · Castroville, CA
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,120 total · 1,520 in this make and model · 1,750 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SNS, 8 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 N51852 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.