Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mineral Wells, Texas 76067
Monday, January 8, 2001 14:20 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter was on a local area flight. A witness, who was loading topsoil into a truck with a Caterpillar loader, noticed a shadow pass overhead and "heard the noise of rotor blades." He turned around and observed the helicopter impact the ground, nose over, and come to rest inverted about 30 feet from his location. The witness stated that he "did not hear the engine running." The engine was removed from the helicopter and test run for about 47 minutes through various power settings. No anomalies were noted. Further examination of the main fuel control and power turbine governor noted no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/8/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1420
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Mineral Wells
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76067
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324529N
Event Location Longitude 0980521W
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 1353 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 35
Weather Observation Facility ID MWL
Elevation of weather observation facility 973
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 16
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
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) 12065
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations
NTSB Notification Date Jan 8 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2002 9:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N152AL
NTSB Number FTW01FA048
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 206B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1703
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 13 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 37.79
Airframe Hours 15599.2
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name S-TEC Corporation
Aircraft Owner Street Address One S-Tec Way Municipal Airport
Aircraft Owner City Mineral Wells
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76067
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code MWL
Departure City Mineral Wells
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone CST
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jul 11 2002 11:15AM
User who most recently changed record SNYG
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --