Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Vicksburg Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vicksburg, Mississippi 71282
Tuesady, February 6, 2007 12:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter landed hard following a loss of engine power during cruise flight. The pilot was en route to refuel his single-engine turbo-shaft powered helicopter. The pilot stated in the Pilot/Operator Accident/Incident Report (NTSB form 6120.1) that the aircraft was in cruise flight at an indicated airspeed of 115 knots while at 500 feet above ground level when the engine lost power without warning. The pilot added that following the loss of engine power, he immediately entered autorotation and landed on a logging road surrounded by tall trees. The aircraft sustained structural damage to the tailboom and main rotor blades during the forced landing. The helicopter came to rest in the upright position. A detailed investigation was conducted on the fuel system by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a representative from the helicopter manufacturer. Their investigation revealed that a fuel transfer check valve located in the aft section of the fuel tank that receives fuel from the forward section of the fuel tank, was found stuck in the closed position, which resulted in fuel starvation to the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as result of a fuel transfer check valve stuck in the closed position. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/6/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Vicksburg |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71282 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 322717N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0905822W |
| Event Location Airport | Vicksburg Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KTVR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 15 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 86 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTVR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 86 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21449 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Atlanta ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 6 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Jackson, MS |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N451DL |
| NTSB Number | DFW07CA065 |
| 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 | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | 600N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RN042 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3850 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 892 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | K-TEK AircraftT LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19300 Perkins Rd.D East |
| Aircraft Owner City | Baton Rouge |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70810 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GNF |
| Departure City | Granada |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KTVR |
| Destination City | Vicksburg |
| Destination State | MS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2007 5:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |