Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Intercession, Florida 33848
Thursday, May 20, 1999 13:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was hovering out of ground effect at about 75 feet above ground level adjacent to power lines to the left of the helicopter. The helicopter started to sink. He applied right antitorque pedal and the engine noise decreased. He moved the cyclic to the right, increased collective pitch to arrest the rate of descent, and the engine out audio activated. As soon as he cleared the power lines, he lowered the collective pitch to gain rotor rpm, and applied forward cyclic in an attempt to clear a tree to his front. He realized impact with the trees was imminent, and applied aft cyclic in an attempt to make a vertical descent. The helicopter collided with trees and terrain hard in a nose low left skid low attitude. Examination of the main fuel tank revealed the fuel tank was empty and not ruptured. The engine was removed, transported to the engine manufacturer, and placed in an engine test stand. The engine started, and obtained takeoff power, and all cruise power point specifications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel management that resulted in fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | INTERCESSION |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33848 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 88 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 447 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 20 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N144CM |
| NTSB Number | MIA99FA158 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0178E |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | May 7 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 13297 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VORTEX HELICOPTERS, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 500 WEST HARBOR DRIVE SUITE 13 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92101 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AIR 2 |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 12515 NORTH KENDALL |
| Operator City | MIAMI |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33186 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Hover |
| 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 | -- |