Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lost Hills, California 93308
Tuesady, July 23, 1996 10:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot landed to take on enough fuel to ferry the helicopter back to the home base. After liftoff at 100 to 150 feet agl he lost all engine power. A postaccident examination revealed that the carburetor air box had been installed with the wrong gasket and mispositioned so that one of four attachment bolts was missing. The gasket was partially ingested into the carburetor throat along with a foreign material determined to be a dusting product that coated the carburetor throat area through the gasket void.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

improper installation of the carburetor air box.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/23/1996
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1045
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LOST HILLS
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93308
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 7
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1156
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KBF
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1483
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 23 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1315
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:12AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7885S
NTSB Number LAX96LA287
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 47-G5
Aircraft Series Identifier 47-G5
Aircraft Serial Number 7873
Certified Max Gross Weight 2750
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 9 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 60
Airframe Hours 3757
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DIANE CONRADI
Aircraft Owner Street Address 730 NE JOHNSON ST. APT 9
Aircraft Owner City MYRTLE CREEK
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97457
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
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 No
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City LOST HILLS
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1040
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code
Destination City SHAFTER
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
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 --