Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00921
Tuesady, July 12, 2005 12:32 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that earlier in the morning he flew with an individual for 1/2 hour, and following that flight secured the engine and waited for approximately 1 hour to allow the engine to cool down. Following that time, he started the engine in order to relocate the helicopter to the south side of the airport. While air taxiing, he suddenly saw the boost pump caution light illuminate followed by the engine out light and low rpm warning lights. He performed an autorotation on the south taxiway. According to the passenger, while flying 10 feet above ground level the engine seemed to start losing power. The pilot maneuvered the helicopter into the wind while descending, and further reported that when the helicopter contacted the ground, the main rotor blade contacted the tailboom causing separation of it. The pilot then secured the helicopter and asked if he was OK. Both exited the helicopter, and rescue personnel assisted them promptly. The passenger also stated that the total flight time was approximately 20-30 seconds, and at no time did he perceive any visual or audio alarms, but he is not familiar with the helicopter or its systems. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector-in-charge (IIC) who examined the accident site and helicopter, and also talked with the pilot, the pilot reported to him that the purpose of the flight was to reposition the helicopter for fuel. The pilot reported to the FAA-IIC that during his preflight inspection, the fuel gauge indicated greater than 10 gallons of fuel. Postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed less than one ounce of fuel was drained from the fuel tank, and approximately 1 liter of fuel was drained from the fuel filter canister. The fuel quantity gauge was tested and was found to indicate correct when fuel was added in five gallon increments; a total of 15 gallons were added during the test.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate preflight/planning by the pilot for his initiation of the flight with inadequate fuel supply, and his failure to maintain main rotor rpm following a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1232 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | San Juan |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00921 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 182742N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0660588W |
| Event Location Airport | Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TJIG |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 18506 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27VT |
| NTSB Number | MIA05CA134 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3070 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J & A Development Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Wilfred Quinones |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | San Juan |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | TJIG |
| Departure City | San Juan |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | TJIG |
| Destination City | San Juan |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2005 3:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |