Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Farmville, Virginia 23901
Monday, February 14, 1994 11:35 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that they landed at the airport to refuel and were going to do a quick turn around. The passenger of the helicopter went into the fueling facility and requested fuel. The type of fuel requested by the passenger was disputed. The pilot stated that he was handed an unmarked nozzle and he proceeded to refuel the helicopter. The pilot stated that he questioned the line service personnel about the different size nozzle and rapid fuel flow rate, and the line service person responded '...that is what is required.' The pilot reported that he did not take any fuel samples after he refueled the helicopter. At the time of the refueling, the fuel tank area at the airport was under construction. The 100 low lead fuel tanks were placarded, but the Jet A fuel tanks were new and the placards were not yet available for display. About four minutes after takeoff, the helicopter's engine lost power. The pilot made an emergency landing in wooded terrain. The pilot and passenger were not injured and the helicopter was substantially damaged. Fuel samples were taken from the helicopter's fuel tank and tested. The fuel tests revealed that the fuel was Jet A and not the required 100 low lead fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to refuel the helicopter with the correct fuel. Factors in the accident were the unclear information given by the passenger and airport line service personnel, the insufficient information regarding the labeling of the airport's fuel tanks, and the lack of suitable terrain to complete a forced landing without damaging the helicopter.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/14/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1135 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FARMVILLE |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23901 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1135 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 891 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 14 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4495M |
| NTSB Number | BFO94LA040 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hiller |
| Aircraft Model | UH-12E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-12E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | HA3065 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2970 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 1466 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES E. STEVENS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 312 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOVINGSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22949 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | STEVENS, JAMES E. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 312 |
| Operator City | LOVINGSTON |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 22949 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1135 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 19 2001 5:00PM |
| 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 | -- |