Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flagler County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bunnell, Florida 32110
Saturday, January 3, 1998 8:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot was on a supervised solo flight in the traffic pattern, practicing landings and takeoffs. At an altitude of about 300 feet above the airport, the helicopter's engine lost power. The student autorotated to an open field, and the helicopter was damaged during a forced landing. The student said when he checked the fuel gauge during preflight, it indicated '5/8' of a tank, which was confirmed by a 'dip stick test.' When he next checked the fuel gauge after doing some pattern work, it indicated '3/8' tank. According to an FAA Inspector's statement, '...the fuel tank was drained and less than 12 ounces of fuel remained in the undamaged fuel tank...no other maintenance discrepancies were found which may have contributed to the accident.' The flight was about 1 hour and 10 minutes in duration.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the student pilot's improper planning/decision, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, and a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/3/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 840 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BUNNELL |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32110 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FLAGLER COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X47 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 80 |
| Airport Elevation | 32 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DAB |
| 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 | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | 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) | 88 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 3 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N59326 |
| NTSB Number | MIA98LA051 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47D1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 47D1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 17 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 5589 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | S&J INVESTMENT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 109 HOLIDAY COURT, BOC 3 |
| Aircraft Owner City | FRANKLIN |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37004 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WING & ROTOR INTERNATIONAL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | FLAGLER CO ARPT |
| Operator City | BUNNELL |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 32110 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| 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 | Emergency landing |
| 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 | 29 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 110 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |