- Date
- July 21, 1997, 10:25 local (17:25 UTC)
- Place
- Buttonwillow, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N919SFBell 47G-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 31, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970721019179A
- Case key
- 29841
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
failure of the pilot to maintain adequate clearance from a utility pole (obstruction) during aerial application. The obstruction was a related factor.
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 reported that he was spraying a cotton field that had power lines crossing it on wooden poles. He stated that as he was 'going around a pole,' the main rotor blade(s) hit the pole. The helicopter then crashed, began burning, and was destroyed.
Factual narrative
On July 21, 1997, at 1025 hours Pacific daylight time, a Bell 47G-2, N919SF, collided with a power pole during an aerial application flight near Buttonwillow, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter was destroyed in the collision sequence and postcrash fire. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The helicopter was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 137, and the flight originated from the field to be sprayed at approximately 1000.
In his written report, the pilot stated that he was spraying a cotton field that had power lines on wooden poles going through it. He stated that he was going around a pole and the main rotor blade hit the pole. The helicopter then rolled over, caught on fire, and was destroyed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N919SF
- Reported as
- Bell 47G-2
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1695
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-A1F, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Gerald K. Lewis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 3, 1997
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
- 32
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,096 total · 260 in the last 90 days · 180 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BFL, 28 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 N919SF · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.