Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tipton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Odenton, Maryland 21113
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 10:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on an aerial photography mission in a Bell 206B helicopter with what he thought was sufficient fuel for 1.6 hours of flight at 28 gph. Returning to the airport to refuel, he experienced a power loss. A witness reported the helicopter appeared to drop in from about 20 feet. The helicopter struck the ground hard and bounced. The main rotor struck the tail boom aft of the horizontal stabilizer and it separated from the helicopter. The pilot reported that he had been airborne for 1.3 hours. The FAA inspector reported that the fuel tank was empty. Further inspection of the fuel quantity measuring system revealed that it was smooth with no hesitation felt in the sensing arm, or observed on the fuel quantity gauge. With the fuel sensing up in the full up position, the fuel quantity gauge indicated about 2 gallons less than full. With the fuel quantity arm in the lowered position, and no fuel in the tank, the fuel quantity gauge read zero or empty.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to monitor his fuel supply which resulted in a power loss due to fuel exhaustion, and the pilot's misjudged flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Odenton |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 21113 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390510N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784600W |
| Event Location Airport | Tipton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FME |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 280 |
| Airport Elevation | 150 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 51 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BWI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 146 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.54 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14657 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1105 |
| 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 | Baltimore, Maryland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N651GA |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA031 |
| 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 | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1936 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 3 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 94.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 10100 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Skywalker I, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3060 Washington Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Glenwood |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21738 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Glenwood Aviation LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7501 General Aviation Dr, Hangar 85 |
| Operator City | Glenwood |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 21738 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FME |
| Departure City | Odenton |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FME |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 14 2003 1:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 10 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |