Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Comstock, Michigan 49041
Friday, May 16, 2008 11:53 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot purchased the helicopter the day prior to the accident. He was returning to his home airstrip after having flown with a certified flight instructor when the accident occurred. A witness reported hearing a loss of engine noise followed by the impact. The helicopter contacted a 40-foot-tall tree and impacted the ground, coming to rest on its right side. The tree was located near a small clearing in a heavily wooded area. The wreckage was aligned with the end of the pilot's airstrip. Inspection of the helicopter, control systems, engine, and transmission, failed to reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the helicopter. Fuel was not visible in the fuel tank. Approximately 2 quarts of fuel were drained from the tank following the accident. There was no evidence of a fuel spill/leak at the accident site. The helicopter has a usable fuel quantity of 66.9 gallons. It has an average cruise airspeed of 85 to 90 miles per hour and it consumes about 22 gallons per hour. The distance from where the helicopter was last fueled to the pilot's airstrip is approximately 82 miles. The pilot then flew approximately 22 miles from his airstrip to pick up his flight instructor. They then flew in the local area for about 1 hour. The certified flight instructor stated that the pilot had departed about 1100 to return to his airstrip. The accident occurred at 1153.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power in flight due to fuel exhaustion resulting from the pilot's inadequate fuel management. Contributing to the accident was the unsuitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/16/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1153 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Comstock |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49041 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 421845N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0852749W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 245 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AZO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 874 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25084 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 16 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2009 11:09AM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, MI |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5049F |
| NTSB Number | CHI08FA132 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | FAIRCHILD HILLER |
| Aircraft Model | FH-1100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 196 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 6 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 5012 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARVOLD DONALD J |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLFAX |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 54730-5004 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Larry D. Boven |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kalamazoo |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 49048 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Kalamazoo |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Kalamazoo |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 18 2009 3:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |