- Date
- July 23, 1996, 10:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Lost Hills, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N7885SBell 47-G5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960723019589A
- Case key
- 29521
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
improper installation of the carburetor air box.
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 landed to take on enough fuel to ferry the helicopter back to the home base. After liftoff at 100 to 150 feet agl he lost all engine power. A postaccident examination revealed that the carburetor air box had been installed with the wrong gasket and mispositioned so that one of four attachment bolts was missing. The gasket was partially ingested into the carburetor throat along with a foreign material determined to be a dusting product that coated the carburetor throat area through the gasket void.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 1996, about 1045 hours Pacific daylight time, a Bell 47-G5, N7885S, was substantially damaged during landing after a power loss near Lost Hills, California. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the agricultural spraying operation and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Shafter, California, at 0700 on the morning of the accident.
The pilot landed to take on enough fuel to ferry the helicopter back to the home base. After liftoff at 100 to 150 feet agl he lost all engine power.
An FAA inspector conducted a postaccident examination of the engine. The examination determined there was adequate fuel onboard at the time of the accident. The engine was test run with noted roughness. The carburetor was removed for inspection and an incorrect gasket was found between the carburetor and the air box. The incorrect gasket had been improperly installed with one of the four mounting bolts/cap screws missing. The gasket had been ingested into the carburetor throat. Additionally, there was foreign matter that was ingested through the gasket void and coated the carburetor throat. The material was determined to be a chemical powder used in agricultural spraying.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7885S
- Reported as
- Bell 47-G5
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7873
- Airframe hours
- 3,757
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-B1A, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Diane Conradi
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 9, 1996 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Lost Hills, CA
- Destination
- 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total · 600 in this make and model · 2,400 as pilot in command · 102 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KBF
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 N7885S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.