Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eutaw, Alabama 35462
Tuesady, September 9, 2008 9:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed the Bell 206B helicopter and was preparing for the ninth aerial agricultural application flight of the day. Ground personnel added fuel and chemical to the helicopter in preparation for the flight. The normal process for refueling was for one person to be in the fuel truck and one person on the ground near the helicopter. When the fuel tank was full, the person at the helicopter gives a "thumbs up" to the person in the truck, who turns off the valve. After disconnecting the hose from the helicopter, the person at the helicopter gives another "thumbs up" to the pilot, and the pilot should then verify the hose has been disconnected from the helicopter. When the helicopter requires the loading of both chemical and fuel, the number of hand signals doubles. During the accident sequence, the pilot saw the ground person give a "thumbs up" and turn away from the helicopter. He assumed the hose had been disconnected, but did not visually verify that it had. As he lifted the helicopter to a hover, it pitched down, rolled to the right, and contacted the ground, substantially damaging the fuselage and tail boom. The person on the ground reported he "mistakenly gave the all clear signal" before the hose was disconnected.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/9/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Eutaw |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35462 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325119N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875245W |
| 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 | 853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BHM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 650 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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) | 24820 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2009 8:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N206WA |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA309 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3037 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9464 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Chem Air Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7545 Haygood Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Shreveport |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71107 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Chem Air Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 7545 Haygood Road |
| Operator City | Shreveport |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 71107 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Eutaw |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Eutaw |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 19 2008 2:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| 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 | -- |