North Las Vegas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Las Vegas, Nevada 89032
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 8:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter landed hard approximately 2 miles south of the destination airport following fuel exhaustion. The pilot arrived at the airport behind his intended schedule, and due to the delay, opted not to refuel the helicopter. He departed with 167 pounds of fuel onboard, equating to about 40 minutes of flight time, which he thought would be a sufficient amount for the flight. Upon arriving at his destination (a 3-minute flight), he was instructed to leave the helicopter running. When he decreased the throttle input, he disengaged the caution-panel circuit breaker in an effort to silence the low rotor rpm warning horn. He shut down the engine for a short break and then departed to go back to the airport. With the helicopter leveled off about 3,000 feet above ground level, he scanned the cockpit gauges and realized that he had not reset the panel circuit breaker. He pushed the breaker in and the low fuel light instantly illuminated, followed by the fuel boost warning lights. While the pilot was looking for suitable terrain to execute an emergency landing, the engine quit and he configured the helicopter in an autorotation. He flared about 18 feet above ground level and the helicopter fell to the ground. He input full collective prior to impact, but the helicopter touched down hard. The pilot stated that the helicopter's engine had quit due to fuel exhaustion.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power due to an inadequate fuel supply.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/25/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 815
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City North Las Vegas
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89032
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 361200N
Event Location Longitude 1151100W
Event Location Airport North Las Vegas Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID VGT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 2205
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 753 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KVGT
Elevation of weather observation facility 2205
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.81
Density Altitude (feet) 4510
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16355
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 25 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAS-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N601GM
NTSB Number LAX02LA295
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
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 206L-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 45638
Certified Max Gross Weight 4150
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Vista Helicopter Services, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2722 Perimeter Rd., #207
Aircraft Owner City North Las Vegas
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89032
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Silver State Helicopters
Operator Same as Owner? No
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City North Las Vegas
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code VGT
Destination City North Las Vegas
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 2 2004 3:59PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --