Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Covington Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Covington, Tennessee 38019
Saturday, September 18, 2010 15:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the initial climb on an aerial application flight, the helicopter's engine lost power while at 30 feet above ground level and in translational lift. The pilot stated that the engine began surging and the helicopter began losing altitude and impacted the ground. A postaccident examination of the helicopter's fuel system by the owner revealed particulate matter in the fuel nozzle. When the nozzle was examined by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) it had no carbon deposits, indicating that it had been cleaned prior to shipment. An examination of the fuel nozzle after a postaccident engine run revealed carbon deposits on the surface. The engine was then placed in an engine test cell and operated normally with no hesitation or abnormalities noted. The NTSB's materials laboratory determined the particulate matter to be torque stripe material. Although it could not be determined where the particulate matter came from, it is likely that it restricted the fuel supply to the engine and resulted in the loss of power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to contamination of the helicopter's fuel supply.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Covington |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38019 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353307N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0892628W |
| Event Location Airport | Covington Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | M04 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 280 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 239 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NQA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 320 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 29080 |
| 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 | Oct 18 2011 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N38FA |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA484 |
| 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 | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 70-15448 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | T & M AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ABBEVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70510 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | B & S Air Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lumpkin |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 31815 |
| Operator Code | B8WG |
| 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 | B8WG386H |
| 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 | Covington |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1550 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Covington |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 18 2011 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |