Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carrizo Springs, Texas 78834
Friday, September 29, 2006 18:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he had flown the helicopter to a nearby municipal airport to refuel. After topping off the 31-gallon fuel system, the airline transport rated pilot, who reported having accumulated 276 flight hours in helicopters, was westbound to a ranch located about 30 miles away, near the border. About five minutes into the flight, while the helicopter was in cruise flight, the engine "started running rough." The pilot noted that the fuel pressure had dropped to about "half of what is normal" and since the terrain on both sides of the highway were "rough and thick with mesquite trees" he elected to initiate an autorotation to the highway, which at the time was clear of vehicular traffic. During the autorotation, while approximately 50-feet above the ground, the pilot observed unmarked power lines. The pilot attempted to maneuver the helicopter to avoid hitting the power lines with the main rotor. The bottom wire collided with the vertical pylon supporting the tail rotor gear box which resulted in a loss of tail rotor drive. The helicopter impacted the ground while in a right drift which collapsed the right landing gear skid and rolled the helicopter. There was no fire and the pilot was able to egress the helicopter unassisted. The pilot reported that it was later determined that the electric fuel boost pump had malfunctioned. The airframe had accumulated 2,136 hours since new and the 180-horsepower engine had accumulated 704 hours since its last overhaul. At the time of the accident, the pilot reported that the weather was clear with 10 miles visibility and calm winds.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to a malfunction of the electric fuel pump. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Carrizo Springs |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78834 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 283101N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0995542W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20790 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 29 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2006 9:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N888CF |
| NTSB Number | DFW06CA217 |
| 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 | Brantly Helicopter |
| Aircraft Model | B-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 457 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2136 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bishop Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 192 Private Road 2506 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Decatur |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76234 |
| 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 | KCZT |
| Departure City | Carrizo Springs |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1810 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Private Ranch |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 18 2006 3:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |