- Date
- June 18, 1995, 09:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Bakersfield, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N73260Bell 47-G2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 29, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950618017379A
- Case key
- 29119
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 failure to maintain adequate lateral clearance from the irrigation standpipe while applying chemicals to a field.
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 was applying chemicals to a cotton field and misjudged his distance from a 20-foot-tall irrigation standpipe. The main rotor contacted the standpipe and the helicopter crashed into the field.
Factual narrative
On June 18, 1995, at 0915 hours Pacific daylight time, a Bell 47-G2A helicopter, N73260, collided with an irrigation standpipe while engaged in aerial application operations near Bakersfield, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by Lewis Aviation of Shafter, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated at Shafter on the morning of the accident at 0830 as a local aerial application flight.
In his written and verbal statements the pilot said he was applying chemicals to a cotton field and misjudged his distance from a 20-foot-tall irrigation standpipe. The main rotor contacted the standpipe and the helicopter crashed into the field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73260
- Reported as
- Bell 47-G2A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2725
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-A1F, 265 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Gerald K. Lewis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 13, 1995 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- MIT · Shafter, 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 17,500 total · 16,000 in this make and model · 100 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BFL, 13 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.