- Date
- June 22, 1990, 10:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Meadville, PA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N310ABell 47D1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900622021819A
- Case key
- 36494
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
The pilot's failure to see and avoid the power lines.
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
After landing to replenish the spray system, the pilot of the aerial application helicopter departed to spray another field. Shortly after takeoff from the staging area the helicopter struck power lines, and fell to the ground. Investigation revealed control continuity throughout the system, and no evidence of pre-impact mechanical malfunction/difficulty. The owner of the farm being sprayed stated that the pilot had been spraying his fields for twenty years and should have known the location of the power lines strung across the field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N310A
- Reported as
- Bell 47D1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 82
- Airframe hours
- 8,038
- Engine
- Franklin 6V4-178-B32, 178 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Ohio Ag Rotors Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 7, 1990 · 23 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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 17,030 total · 10,025 in this make and model · 15,980 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Observed at
- NOA, 18 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 N310A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.