Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Booneville, Arkansas 72927
Wednesday, September 16, 1992 12:13 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT HAD FLOWN THE HELICOPTER ON THE POWER LINE AERIAL OBSERVATION FLIGHT FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 HOURS AND 8 MINUTES WHEN A POWER LOSS OCCURRED. HE INITIATED AN AUTOROTATION TO AN OPEN FIELD. DURING THE FLARE, HE FAILED TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ROTOR RPM AND THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES SEVERED THE TAILBOOM. THE HELICOPTER LANDED HARD. THE OWNER OF THE HELICOPTER DRAINED A SMALL AMOUNT OF FUEL FROM THE TANKS AND SAID THAT HE WAS CERTAIN THAT LACK OF FUEL CAUSED THE FORCED LANDING. THE PILOT PERFORMED A CALCULATED FUEL CONSUMPTION CHECK TWO DAYS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT WHICH HE SAID SHOWED A FUEL BURN RATE OF 13.7 GALLONS PER HOUR OR 3 HOURS AND 47 MINUTES OF FLIGHT TIME. HE USED A STOP WATCH IN THE COCKPIT TO ACCOUNT FOR FLIGHT TIME. THE MANUFACTURER STATES THE FUEL SYSTEM HOLDS 47.5 GALLONS OF USABLE FUEL, THE ENGINE'S FUEL BURN RATE IS 19 GALLONS PER HOUR AT CRUISE, AND LISTS THE MAXIMUM CRUISE TIME AS 3 HOURS AND 18 MINUTES WITH THE ENGINE LEANED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ROTOR RPM DURING AUTOROTATIVE LANDING. FACTORS WERE FUEL EXHAUSTION, THE PILOT'S IMPROPER FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS, AND THE PILOT NOT REFUELING THE HELICOPTER.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/16/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1213 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | BOONEVILLE |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72927 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| 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 | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1039 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 17 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 935 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 52723 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N291FW |
| NTSB Number | FTW92LA226 |
| 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 | 47-J2A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 47-J2A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3303 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 16 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 99 |
| Airframe Hours | 5494 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RUGGLES, DON C. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2 COLONIAL DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | TEXARKANA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75502 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RUGGLES, DON C. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2 COLONIAL DR. |
| Operator City | TEXARKANA |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 75502 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | M39 |
| Departure City | MENA |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 905 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4M2 |
| Destination City | BOONEVILLE |
| Destination State | AR |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |