Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Decorah, Iowa 52101
Sunday, September 30, 2012 9:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and passenger were repositioning the helicopter and stopped twice to refuel. Each time they stopped, the pilot filled the fuel tank. Following the second stop, the pilot flew the helicopter for just more than 1 hour for personal reasons. Before continuing on the repositioning flight, the pilot added 15 gallons of fuel. Because this was not enough fuel to top off the fuel tank, the pilot referenced the fuel gauge, which he said indicated 305 to 310 pounds of fuel on board. According to the pilot, the helicopter burned about 240 pounds of fuel per hour. The pilot and passenger then departed on the next leg of their flight with an estimated time en route of 1 hour. About 58 minutes after they departed, the fuel-low caution light illuminated, indicating the helicopter had 35 pounds of fuel remaining. The pilot continued the flight because he was within a few miles of the destination airport. However, about 3 minutes after the fuel-low caution light illuminated, the engine lost total power. The pilot made an autorotation to a mature corn field, and the helicopter bounced on touchdown and rolled over on its left side, which damaged the tail boom.
Examination of the helicopter revealed minimal fuel remained in the fuel sump and 1/4-cup of fuel remained in the fuel tank. Further examination revealed no mechanical deficiencies with the fuel system; however, when the fuel gauge and low-fuel caution light were tested they were found to not be calibrated correctly. The fuel gauge indicated a higher-than-actual fuel tank quantity, and the fuel-low caution light illuminated when only 19 pounds of fuel remained in the fuel tank, instead of 35 pounds, as designed. According to the operator, the fuel quantity sensor system, including the low fuel-low caution light, was inspected during a normal maintenance inspection about 7 months before the accident, and no discrepancies were noted. No subsequent maintenance had been performed on the fuel quantity sensor system.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to properly manage the helicopter's available fuel supply, which led to a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the improper calibration of the fuel gauge and the fuel-low warning light.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 920 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Decorah |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 52101 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 431619N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0914413W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 915 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 248 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32044 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Des Moines FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2013 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N530KD |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA667 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELI CO |
| Aircraft Model | 369FF |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0044FF |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 6 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4641 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robin M Rogers |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fresno |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93272 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rogers Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fresno |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93272 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FOD |
| Departure City | Fort Dodge |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 820 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DEH |
| Destination City | Decorah |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2013 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| 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 | -- |