- Date
- August 27, 1982, 09:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Palo, IA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N12412Bell 47G-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 27, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820827042189A
- Case key
- 72147
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 pilot reported that during flight at about 300 ft AGL, the engine sputtered and lost power. He entered an autorotation, turned into the wind, and landed in a bean field. As the aircraft descended into the beans, the spray boom became entangled in the vines which pulled the nose down. The impact flexed the tail boom up into the path of the main rotor blades which severed the boom. The pilot reported that water was found in the carburetor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N12412
- Reported as
- Bell 47G-2
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1487
- Airframe hours
- 9,304
- Engine
- Lycoming O-435-A1F, 240 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 137
- Operator
- Janet K. Brentner
- Registered owner
- Janet K. Brentner
- Departed
- Mccallsburg, IA
- Destination
- C17 · Marion, IA
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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 980 total · 315 in this make and model · 725 as pilot in command · 450 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 144 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CID, 12 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 N12412 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.