Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cross, South Carolina 29436
Friday, March 9, 1990 9:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT HAD COMPLETED ABOUT ONE HOUR OF LOGGING AND WAS EN ROUTE TO THE REFUELING POINT. THE ENGINE QUIT WHEN THE HELICOPTER WAS ABOUT 200 FT OVER A WOODED AREA. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE HELICOPTER IN A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE, FOLLOWED BY SLOWING OF THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES. ONE WITNESS RECALLED THE HELICOPTER ROTATED ABOUT 180 DEG BEFORE COLLIDING WITH TREES. THE PILOT WAS REMOVED FROM THE HELICOPTER BEFORE IT BURST INTO FLAMES & WAS DESTROYED. BEFORE THE PILOT DIED, HE REPORTED THE FUEL GAGE WAS INDICATING BETWEEN 100 AND 200 LBS BEFORE IT CRASHED. AN EXAM OF THE HELICOPTER FAILED TO REVEAL ANY PREIMPACT MECHANICAL PROBLEMS. THE OPERATING POLICY WAS TO REFUEL WITH 800 POUNDS OF FUEL PLUS 200 POUNDS AS A SAFETY NET. AT 200 FT AGL, A FORWARD SPEED OF OVER 48 MPH WOULD HAVE BEEN NEEDED TO BE OUT OF THE SHADED AREA OF THE HEIGHT-VELOCITY CHART FOR THIS HELICOPTER.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FUEL, AND HIS FAILURE TO FLY THE HELICOPTER IN SUCH A MANNER THAT WOULD HAVE ASSURED SUFFICIENT ROTOR RPM FOR AN AUTOROTATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | CROSS |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29436 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| 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) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 1729 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 9 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43218 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4875M |
| NTSB Number | ATL90FA075 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SIKORSKY |
| Aircraft Model | HSS-1N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | HSS-1N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 147987 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LIBERTY HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ROUTE 1 BOX 271A |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIDWAY |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 31320 |
| 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 | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Cruise |
| 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 | -- |