Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
King City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenfield, California 93927
Tuesady, February 18, 2014 8:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the 2 hours leading up to the accident, the pilot of the agriculture and pest control category helicopter had sprayed about 40 acres of crops, having refueled once. He stated that during the last pass of his current field he misjudged the distance between the main rotor blades and a power pole. The main rotor blades struck the pole, and the pilot performed a forced landing into the field. During the landing, the helicopter rolled over, sustaining substantial damage to the firewall, tailboom, and cabin structure. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation, and further stated that the accident could have been avoided if he had flown over the pole rather than attempting to fly around it.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a power pole during low-altitude maneuvering flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/18/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Greenfield |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93927 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361651N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1211001W |
| Event Location Airport | KING CITY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KIC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 325 |
| Airport Elevation | 374 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 843 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSNS 181653Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 08/05 A3020 RM |
| 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) | 32539 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA LAX ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 10 2014 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sime1 |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N715BH |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA115 |
| 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 | 47G 5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 5A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25105 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2851 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 15 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 9400 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILBUR-ELLIS CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 3650 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALINAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 939123650 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | WILBUR-ELLIS CO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 3650 |
| Operator City | SALINAS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 939123650 |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KIC |
| Departure City | KING CITY |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Greenfield |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 10 2014 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sime1 |
| 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 | -- |