Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Springdale, Ohio 45246
Friday, June 23, 2000 7:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was performing an aerial observation flight of vehicle traffic, operating about 500 feet AGL, when the engine missed and lost power. The pilot performed a run-on landing on the edge of the road, next to a median. One skid was on asphalt and the other skin was in the grass/dirt. The skid in grass/dirt dug in and the helicopter rotated 90 degrees and rolled over. Examination of the helicopter revealed no fuel in the tank, the fuel cap in place, and no evidence of leakage. When fuel was added, the fuel gauge consistently read less than the actual amount of fuel onboard. The pilot told the Safety Board he had checked the fuel prior to departure; however, in follow-up interviews with the FAA, the pilot reported he had not checked the fuel tanks prior to departure and had not paid attention to the fuel gauge while flying.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight of the helicopter, and his subsequent failure to monitor his fuel supply, which resulted in a power loss due to fuel exhaustion, over unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 730 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SPRINGDALE |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45246 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | 753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 633 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 551 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Cincinnati, OH, FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 23 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1145 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N383MA |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA174 |
| 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 | Enstrom |
| Aircraft Model | 280 FX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 280 FX |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2048 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Jun 14 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 1527 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORTHSTAR HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5677 CREEK ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CINCINNATI |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45242 |
| 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 | NH8A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | 22OH |
| Departure City | BLUE ASH |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 615 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 8:55AM |
| 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 | -- |