Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rosebud, Texas 76570
Sunday, October 7, 2001 22:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While en route on a positioning flight in dark night visual meteorological conditions, the Emergency Medical Service twin-engine helicopter was diverted to pick up a patient who was involved in an automobile accident. Upon arriving in the vicinity of the accident, the pilot had trouble locating the accident site. After circling the area several times, the pilot was informed that the patient was transported by ground vehicle. The flight departed the area for the initial intended destination. The pilot filed a company flight plan with an estimated time of arrival of 30 minutes and 40 minutes of fuel on board. About 10 minutes from destination, both of the helicopter's engines lost power, and the pilot initiated an autorotation. The pilot spotted what he believed to be a tree or bush and "flared a little high to miss the obstacle which caused a decrease in rotor rpm." During the landing, the helicopter touched down "hard," slid approximately 30-40 feet, before coming to rest on its left side following the separation of both landing skid tubes. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the fuel system was not compromised. During the examination of the fuel system, a total of 2 ounces of fuel was drained from both fuel filters and the fuel lines, which lead to the fuel nozzles. A total of 2 quarts of fuel was drained from both fuel tanks. Toxicology testing of the pilot was positive for methamphetamine (>20000 ng/ml) and amphetamine (2642 ng/ml). The operator reported that "the pilot admitted to taking medicine prescribed for his wife, and was taking this medicine for 3 days prior to the accident."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots impairment due to drugs. Contributing factors were the dark night light conditions, the pilot's failure to refuel, resulting in the total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and the pilot's misjudged landing flare.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2250 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rosebud |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76570 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 225 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 13475 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 8 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 10 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2003 9:51AM |
| 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 | N911BB |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA006 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS355F1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5099 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5291 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5576.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Southwest Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6666 S Plumer Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tucson |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85706 |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | EJYA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 9F1 |
| Departure City | VALLEY MILLS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2130 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 59XS |
| Destination City | TEMPLE |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |