Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Benton City, Washington 99320
Thursday, August 26, 1999 11:25 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-certificated pilot, who had been building the helicopter for several years, had recorded a total of 5 hours of flight experience in 1988 and an additional 10 hours in 1999 (July 19th through August 24th). Although all his flight time had been logged as 'dual,' family members reported that a number of the eight flights conducted in 1999 (all in the accident helicopter), had been flown solo. An ear witness reported hearing the helicopter depart followed by a 'popping' sound and then silence. The witness then observed a plume of smoke. A mechanic stated that the pilot reported having engine problems and then borrowed a used carburetor and the pilot's logbook contained an entry dated 8/16/99 with the remark 'flight test changed carb running good.' The aircraft impacted terrain in a steep descent and wreckage distribution was confined to a small area. Minimal leading edge rotor blade damage was noted and the engine/rotor RPM indicator was observed to display '0' and '170' RPM respectively at the site. The center portion of the helicopter including the engine and transmission were heavily damaged in the post-crash fire.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of power for undetermined reasons and the failure of the pilot to maintain adequate rotor RPM following the power loss. Contributing factors were the pilot's lack of certification and total experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/26/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1125 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BENTON CITY |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99320 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 62 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 407 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| 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) | 29 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1025 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 26 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1155 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11VH |
| NTSB Number | SEA99LA149 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47G-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 47G-2 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2027 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BEIGHTOL, STEVEN, L. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7310 CANYON VIEW |
| Operator City | BENTON CITY |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 99320 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | -- |