Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Glenn, California 95943
Sunday, February 21, 1999 15:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was in the process of finishing an aerial application run over an almond orchard when it collided with the ground in a nose down attitude. The pilot told the company owner and his family members that the flight controls 'went away' and he could not overpower the flight controls as the helicopter descended. The owner of the helicopter company stated that during the spray run the pilot flew up and over a powerline which was approximately 100 feet from the orchard. He reported that the pilot told him he heard a noise as he flew over the powerlines and then experienced the loss of control. Detailed examination and functional tests of various components of the helicopter's control systems failed to find any evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. The tail stinger of the helicopter and an exemplar sample of the copper powerline wire was examined in a laboratory and it was determined that there was no wire transfer marks on the tail stinger. The pilot was transported to a hospital after the accident where tests later determined he had fractured his back. He died during a surgical procedure 2 days after the accident. The pilot held an airline transport certificate with over 32,000 hours of flight time, 28,000 of which were in helicopters.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An inflight loss of control for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/21/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1510 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | GLENN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95943 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 238 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1239 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 21 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1657 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6258Z |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA108 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 68-16089 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 19 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 6632 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AVAG INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P O BOX 156 |
| Aircraft Owner City | RICHVALE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95974 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | NIEG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1505 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |