Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gold Coast Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Miami, Florida 33201
Saturday, March 3, 1990 14:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT OF THE HELICOPTER PLANNED A SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT AND ESTIMATED HE HAD 8 GALLONS OF FUEL ON BOARD. THE ENGINE LOST POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION ABOUT 12 MIN AFTER TAKEOFF. AS THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO STRETCH THE GLIDE TO A CLEARING TO AVOID TREES, THE ROTOR RPM DECAYED AND A HARD LANDING OCCURRED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FUEL. THE LOCATION OF TREES WAS A RELATED FACTOR IN THAT THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ROTOR RPM WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REACH A SUITABLE LANDING AREA DURING THE AUTOROTATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/3/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | MIAMI |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33201 |
| 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 | GOLD COAST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 5 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 12 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 126 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1607 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40697 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 4:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4837 |
| NTSB Number | MIA90LA077 |
| 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 | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 47G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 47G |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1453 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | Feb 16 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 10557 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GOLD COAST HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 15101 BISCAYNE BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | N. MIAMI |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33160 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | MIAMI |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| 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 | Aug 22 2001 3:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 200 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |