Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Shelton, Nebraska 68876
Friday, August 14, 1998 10:26 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft experienced a total loss of engine power while maneuvering during agricultural spraying. The aircraft impacted terrain during a forced landing. Examination of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector showed the engine to rotate and to have compression in all cylinders. Electrical continuity was established from the magnetos and through the harness. There was no fuel found in the fuel line connecting the fuel tank to the engine driven pump. The engine driven and electric fuel pumps rotated and were then disassembled but damage was found on the impeller of the fuel pumps. The carburetor bowls contained 1/3 fuel. Approximately three gallons of fuel was drained from the helicopter fuel tank with no external leakage visually present. The fuel tank port is located at the forward end of the fuel tank. The Hiller UH-12E Flight Manual states, 'Operating with fuel indicator in the yellow arc during sideward or rearward flight may result in loss of power'. The yellow arc indicates a fuel range from 0 to 2.9 gallons, 0 to 11 liters, 0-17 lbs. of fuel. The Hiller UH-12E Flight Manual Supplement states, 'Consideration should be given to hoisting loads off the ground vertically as pulling or dragging loads off in other than a vertical direction can cause the helicopter to exceed the certified normal flight body-angle and unusable fuel envelope'.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot mismanaged the fuel which led to fuel starvation and subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1026 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | SHELTON |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68876 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 1056 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1841 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 915 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 24 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1620 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N88782 |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA312 |
| 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 | Hiller |
| Aircraft Model | UH-12E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-12E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1734 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Aug 11 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 6232 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CENTRAL STATES HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19051 W SHELTON RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | SHELTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68876 |
| 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 | C59G |
| 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 | 1015 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| 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 | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |