- Date
- May 29, 1985, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jonesboro, AR
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N29WLBell OH-13E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850529020449A
- Case key
- 33838
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 plt reported that the eng quit due to fuel exhaustion. He attempted to land straight ahead on soft terrain, but the helicopter rolled over. During the accident sequence, the main rotor blades struck the tail boom & scattered parts ahead of & to the rgt of the flt path. The flagman was aprx 100 ft ahead of the impact point & was struck by flying debris. No fuel was found in the fuel tank after the accident. At the time of the accident, the plt did not possess an FAA helicopter rating nor an aerial application certificate. Also, he reported that the fuel gages were not reliable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N29WL
- Reported as
- Bell OH-13E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 520
- Airframe hours
- 4,182
- Engine
- Franklin 6V-335, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Tony Miles
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 15, 1985 · 21 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
- 24
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,252 total · 102 in this make and model · 2,161 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
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 N29WL · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.