- Date
- July 20, 2011, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Watsonville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1375XBell 47G-5
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 6, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110720017189A
- Case key
- 81165
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 maintain clearance from a pole while maneuvering during an aerial application flight.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
During an aerial application flight, the pilot was spraying water on a field to wash the hopper tank for the next load of chemicals. During the second pass, the pilot attempted to clear a wire that ran perpendicular to his flight path by descending beneath it at an altitude of approximately 5 feet. The pilot reported that the outer end of one main rotor blade struck the pole and the helicopter impacted the ground and rolled over.
Factual narrative
The pilot was spraying water on a field to wash the hopper tank for the next load of chemicals. On the second pass the pilot attempted to clear a wire that ran perpendicular to his flight path by descending beneath it at an altitude of approximately 5 feet. The pilot reported that the outer end of one main rotor blade struck the pole and the helicopter hit the ground and rolled over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1375X
- Reported as
- Bell 47G-5
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7840
- Airframe hours
- 8,224
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435 SERIES, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Gomes Farm Air Service Inc
- Registered owner
- Gomes Farm Air Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · July 9, 2011 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- KSNS · Salinas, CA
- Destination
- N/A · Watsonville, CA
- Airport
- N/A · None
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
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 11, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 342 total · 172 in this make and model · 282 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 154° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KWVI, 7 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 17, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 521 KB in all.
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 N1375X · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.