Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brooksville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Brooksville, Florida 34604
Saturday, November 15, 2003 15:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that as he was approaching to land, and while on the downwind leg, all gages were indicating normal. He said that at an altitude of about 200 to 300 feet AGL, he pushed the collective down to initiate the descent, and lights and engine out warnings commenced. He said he immediately entered an autorotation and landed the helicopter, but during the landing on uneven ground the right skid was lower and dug into the ground, causing the helicopter to nose down. The main rotor blades then contacted the tail boom, severing it, and the helicopter rotated about 90 degrees. The pilot said that he did not receive any low fuel warning signal, and that prior to the accident there had been no failures or malfunctions to the helicopter or any of its systems. Postcrash examination of the helicopter by an FAA inspector and a representative from Rolls Royce/Allison Engine Company revealed about 1 quart of fuel remaining when the fuel bladders were drained through the fuel drain. In addition, when the fuel line to the injectors was removed and drained, about 20 ml of fuel was recovered, and when the fuel filter on the fuel control was removed, inspected and drained, the filter was found to be clean, and about 1/8 bowl of fuel was recovered. The inspector stated that fuel had been exhausted from the helicopter, and added that there had been a fold in the fuel tank bladder that he thought was affecting the fuel float assembly ,and was giving a false fuel quantity reading, as well as affecting the low fuel warning. According to the Rolls Royce/Allison Engine company representative, who examined the helicopter in the presence of the FAA inspector and the pilot, all helicopter systems were found to be functional. The representative said that he did find a small folded crease in the left fuel tank bladder when he opened the panel, gaining entry to the fuel tank, but further stated that the crease was about 1 to 1 1/2-inches in height, and about 1/4 inch across, and it would not have affected the fuel tank capacity. In addition, the engine was shipped to Rolls Royce/Allison Engine Company for a test run which revealed that the engine functioned within parameters, with no anomalies being noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the pilot's failure to adequately plan for the flight which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a forced landing, and damage to the helicopter during the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Brooksville |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34604 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 282824N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822719W |
| Event Location Airport | Brooksville |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KBKV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 77 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 26 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBKV 151953Z AUTO 15003KT 10SM CLR 25/13 A30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17497 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Orlando FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1555 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N369PS |
| NTSB Number | MIA04LA022 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | OH-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 391105 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2250 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 3073.4 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | F1 Helicopters Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1041 Linmar Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fruitland park |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34731 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Warwick John Dale |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TIX |
| Departure City | Titusville |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BKV |
| Destination City | Brooksville |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |