- Date
- February 15, 1984, 12:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Waldo, FL
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N19MPHiller UH-12E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840215038669A
- Case key
- 30968
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 acft was being used to dispense aerial incendiary devices (aids) to control forest burning. The aids were 1.25 inch diameter polystyrene balls containing potassium permanganate. They were injected with ethylene glycol prior to being dropped out of the acft by a dispensing machine. The machine was installed on the cabin floor in front of the rgt door opening. Fire erupted in an extra supply of aid balls located in the canopy bubble forward of the seats. The extra aids were stored in plastic bags. After the fire erupted, the plt attempted to land on a nearby road , but lost control because of the fire. The crewmember did not jettison the aid dispenser because the fire was in the canopy bubble. The aid balls had been shipped in black plastic bags & packed in corrugated paper cartons. The extra supplies of aids in the acft were in the plastic bags that had been removed from the corrugated cartons. Operating instructions allowed for extra cartons of aids to be carried in the cabin of the acft, if they were securely fastened.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N19MP
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1603
- Airframe hours
- 7,415
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Walter M. Moore
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 27, 1983 · 75 hours before
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,250 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 9,170 as pilot in command · 75 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GNV, 10 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.