Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbia, Maine 04623
Thursday, May 13, 2004 7:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had been flying uneventfully for approximately 2 hours. The helicopter then landed in a private field, where additional chemical spray and fuel was loaded. About 1 minute after takeoff from the private field, at 200 feet agl, the engine lost partial power. The pilot attempted to perform a run-on landing to a field; however, the helicopter impacted trees prior to the field. Following the accident, a test run of the engine was performed using the original fuel control unit, power turbine governor, and engine fuel pump. The engine ran continuously at 95 percent power, with no interruptions or discrepancies noted. A fuel sample was recovered from the helicopter 6 days after the accident, and tested about 2 months later. The test revealed 800 parts per million (ppm) of water present. A fuel sample was also recovered from the fueling truck. Testing of that sample revealed 4 ppm of water present. In addition, the fuel truck was used before and after the accident with no problems noted. According to the Aviation Fuel Quality Control Handbook, the maximum acceptable level of free and dissolved water was 60 ppm.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, which resulted in a forced landing during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/13/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 735 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Columbia |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04623 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443930N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0674630W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 735 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BHB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 83 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.37 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17621 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 13 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N59MH |
| NTSB Number | NYC04LA122 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Garlick Helicipters Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 69-16092 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 22 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 4234 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Maine Helicopters |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Whitefield |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04353 |
| 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 | ZIFG |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Columbia |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 705 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| 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 | -- |