Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sebring Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sebring, Florida 33870
Friday, December 6, 2013 16:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 6, 2013, about 1630 eastern standard time, a Bell-47, N1001N, was destroyed after impacting the ground during a positioning flight near Sebring, Florida. The sole occupant, a commercial pilot, was fatally injured. The helicopter was registered to Rotor Tech, Incorporated, and operated by Spray Copter LLC. The positioning flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed a local farm field about 1615.
During the course of the day, the helicopter was conducting aerial application flight in the local area in accordance with CFR Part 137. According to the ground crew manager for the operator, about 400 acres was treated with insecticide on the day of the accident. The accident flight was intended to reposition the helicopter from a farm field to Sebring Regional Airport (SEF), Sebring, Florida, where the pilot stated to the ground crew, and his business partner, that he was going to wash the helicopter and change the engine oil.
According to an eyewitness, the helicopter approached from the northwest, traveling to the southeast. The helicopter appeared to be about 200 feet above ground level. He also stated that from the time that the helicopter cleared the trees bordering the west side of the open field, the helicopter made a constant, uninterrupted descent onto the field. The witness further described seeing a large dust plume following the impact, which was followed immediately by an explosion. Due to being on a farm tractor, the witness was not able to confirm if the helicopter engine was running.
Initial examination of the helicopter by an NTSB investigator, and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the helicopter impacted the open field 1.3 nautical miles to the west of SEF. The wreckage was located in a sod field and the debris path was about 40 yards in circumference, and located in close proximity to an irrigation canal. All major components of the airframe and engine were located and transferred to a secure location for further examination.
An agricultural GPS system, cell phone, navigation display, and various universal serial bus memory keys were retained and sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory in Washington, D. C. for download.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/6/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sebring |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33870 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 272748N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812200W |
| Event Location Airport | Sebring Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEF |
| 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 | 288 |
| Airport Elevation | 62 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1635 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OBE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 06/12/2013 21:35 METAR KOBE 062135Z AUTO 16007KT C |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| 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 | Dec 13 2013 3:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1001N |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA066 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | TEXAS HELICOPTER CORP |
| Aircraft Model | M74L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 81-037 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2850 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 7949 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rotor Tech, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Panama City |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32407 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Spray Copter, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Labadie |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63055 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | -- |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEF |
| Destination City | Sebring |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2013 1:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | murp1 |
| 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 | -- |