Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fowler Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Shaw Island, Washington 98286
Tuesady, June 8, 2010 14:27 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he and his wife, a helicopter pilot-rated passenger, departed to the north. The passenger stated that she noticed that the carburetor temperature gauge needle was in the yellow arc and asked the pilot if he would like her to add carburetor heat. The pilot said yes, and watched as she reached for the lever. The pilot did not see her move the lever because her hand was blocking his view. He looked away to monitor the helicopter, which was then climbing to clear the treetops. The pilot stated that about a minute later, as the helicopter reached the shoreline, the engine sputtered and quit. The pilot noticed that the mixture control had been pulled out about halfway, to idle cut-off. He lowered the collective and entered an autorotation, landing the float equipped helicopter on the water. The helicopter then nosed over upside-down and sustained substantial damage to the tail boom and cabin. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine prior to the accident. The mixture and carburetor heat controls are next to each other on the pedestal.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The passenger's inadvertent movement of the mixture control during climb, resulting in a loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1427 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Shaw Island |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98286 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483536N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225915W |
| Event Location Airport | Fowler Field |
| 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 | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 200 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 113 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KFHR 082053Z AUTO 36008KT 10SM CLR 19/09 A29 |
| 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) | 27182 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2010 8:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7069J |
| NTSB Number | WPR10CA283 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 47G-4A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7737 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 8806 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BRANTIGAN JOHN W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA FE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87506-7943 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BRANTIGAN JOHN W |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Shaw Island |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98286 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Fowler Field |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1428 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Fowler Field |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2010 8:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |