Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Thermal, California 92274
Saturday, March 12, 2005 12:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter landed hard and the main rotor blades severed the tail boom following a loss of engine power and an autorotation to the runway surface. The helicopter had just undergone an annual inspection. The pilot said the fuel gauge was reading less than 1/2 full, and that a full fuel tank, approximately 25 gallons, provides about 2 hours of flight. The pilot was supposed to fly the helicopter for a post maintenance flight check to the end of the runway and then return. The pilot continued to fly the helicopter for about 1 hour until the power loss occurred. Post accident examination by the aviation maintenance technician did not reveal any fuel in the fuel tanks. Fixed base operator personnel that assisted following the accident did not see any fuel spill on the ground surrounding the helicopter. The pilot reported refueling the helicopter about 2 1/2 months prior at his local airport. There were no fueling records on file to indicate that the helicopter had been refueled. Post accident examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any mechanical anomalies or breeches in the fuel system.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning and failure to refuel the helicopter, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1250 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Thermal |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92274 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333736N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1160934W |
| Event Location Airport | Jacqueline Cochran Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -114 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1252 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -114 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19663 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 12 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-RAL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5311V |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA112 |
| 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 | Hiller |
| Aircraft Model | UH-12B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 703 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 4020 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Botello |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rancho Mirage |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92270 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UDD |
| Departure City | Bermuda Dunes |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TRM |
| Destination City | Thermal |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 11 2006 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 4995 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |