Bell 206B N1285S

Summary

On 5 October 1999 at about 17:00 local time, a Bell 206B registered N1285S was involved in an accident near Centreville, Alabama, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 October 1999 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Centreville, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

32.9500, -87.1308

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N1285S

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Centreville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA00FA003

2 people died.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the helicopter's fuel system resulting in an in-flight loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of overboard porting of fuel when the airframe fuel filter was left in the 'drain and locked' position and the subsequent collision with trees during an attempted autorotation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Ground crew support personnel observed the aerial spray helicopter lift off at about 1150 with the pilot and tree tract owner aboard for the purpose of defining the tract boundaries. Lift off appeared and sounded normal. Thirty minutes later, absent any contact or sight of the rotorcraft, the ground crew became concerned and started searching. At 1504, the wreckage was found by police helicopter search near the edge of a clearing. Postcrash examination of the crash site revealed the rotorcraft collided with two large trees before impact with the terrain about 60 feet into the clearing. Postcrash examination of the engine, drive-train, transmission, airframe, rotors, and flight controls revealed the engine was not producing power, precrash. Examination of the fuel system revealed the airframe fuel filter's wing-nut drain had been positioned and locked in the 'drain' position, and there was very little fuel aboard, either in the fuel cell or in the engine's fuel lines.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.