Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crows Landing, California 95313
Tuesady, January 11, 2000 21:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter impacted terrain while reversing course in an unlit area, on a dark night, in marginal VFR weather. During a (pilot) abbreviated preflight weather briefing, the pilot did not request to receive the area forecast, which forecast cloud ceilings below 1,000 feet agl and visibilities less that 3 statute miles in precipitation, fog, and mist along the route. The pilot also declined to hear an airman's meteorological notice (AIRMET), which forecast areas of instrument flight conditions and mountain obscuration along his route of flight. The pilot was advised by the briefer that VFR flight was not recommended.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain altitude and clearance from terrain during a turn to reverse direction after encountering instrument meteorological conditions. A factor in the accident was the pilot's failure to obtain a full weather briefing before departure which accurately forecast the conditions encountered.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/11/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | CROWS LANDING |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95313 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 11 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MOD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 97 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1125 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 11 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2350 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 10 2001 4:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N901SF |
| NTSB Number | LAX00GA073 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Arrow Aircraft Co. |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 72-21363 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 3097 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPT. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 850 BRYANT ST. - RM 511 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94103 |
| 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 | |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PTV |
| Departure City | PORTERVILLE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2001 4:09AM |
| 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 | -- |