Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Treynor, Iowa 51575
Monday, July 9, 2012 7:09 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot performed a preflight inspection and noted that the 61-gallon fuel tank was just over a quarter full. After about 26 minutes of aerial application runs, the helicopter yawed left, and a warning light flickered. The pilot did not see which light had illuminated. Thinking it was a fuel problem, he checked the fuel quantity gauge, which read two needle-widths below a quarter tank. The pilot continued spraying, and several seconds later the turbine-engine stopped producing power. The pilot turned left and made an autorotation run-on landing to a field. After the helicopter came to a stop, the main rotor blades flexed downward and severed the tail boom. Approximately 1.75 gallons of fuel was drained from the two fuel tanks. The pilot reported that the usual fuel consumption was about 25 gallons per hour and the tanks had about 4 gallons of unusable fuel. The pilot said that there were no mechanical problems before the accident, and the engine was most likely starved of fuel due to the low fuel level and unusual attitudes inherent to helicopter aerial applications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 709 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Treynor |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 51575 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411123N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0953512W |
| Event Location Airport | None |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 30263 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 24 2012 8:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2919W |
| NTSB Number | CEN12CA435 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| 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-3B-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6823 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 29 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10129 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CUSTOM AIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 350 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOUISVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39339-0350 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CUSTOM AIR LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 350 |
| Operator City | LOUISVILLE |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39339-0350 |
| 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 | Treynor |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Treynor |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2012 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| 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 | -- |