Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newfield, New York 14867
Thursday, July 25, 2002 11:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Bell 206B was involved in long line operations when the engine lost power. The pilot was operating over a wooded area at 20 mph, transitioning between two pickup areas located about 1,000 feet apart, with no suitable landing area nearby. The pilot stretched his glide to reach a suitable landing area, during which time, the main rotor rpm decayed. Touchdown was hard and the forward skid tube was spread while the rear skid tube penetrated the fuel tank. There was evidence of a limited fuel spill at the accident site. The pilot was operating with an intermittent fuel quantity measuring system, and dipping the tanks with a stick to determine fuel quantity. The helicopter was not equipped with a low fuel quantity light. According to Bell helicopters, use of a dip stick to measure fuel quantity is not an approved procedure. The operator reported that he had not received authority from Transport Canada, to operate with an inoperative fuel gauge, or to dip the tanks to determine fuel quantity. Refueling had been accomplished using an electric fuel pump powered by a battery installed in a truck.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to verify the amount of fuel onboard prior to departure, which resulted in a power loss due to fuel exhaustion, and subsequent hard landing. A factor was the lack of a suitable landing area under the helicopter when the power loss occurred.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1110 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Newfield |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14867 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422024N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0763254W |
| 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 | 1050 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 31 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ITH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1099 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1904 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14646 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 25 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Rochester, New York |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-GMLS |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA147 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 378 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 9 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 54.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 8110.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Standard Ag Helicopters Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chatham, Ontario |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Newfield |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Newfield |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 9 2003 10:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |