Aerospatiale SA315B N230US

Summary

On 24 March 2000 at about 16:50 local time, a Aerospatiale SA315B registered N230US, operated by Southern States Cooperative, was involved in an accident near Springfield, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 March 2000 at 16:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Springfield, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

32.3591, -81.2992

Aircraft

Aerospatiale SA315B

Registration

N230US

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Southern States Cooperative

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Guyton → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL00LA038

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning resulting in fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting an aerial application of fertilizer on a pine tree forest. He departed with 60 gallons of fuel, which equates to 45 minutes of useable fuel, and had been airborne for approximately 50 minutes. As the helicopter hovered 30 ft. over the loading crews, the engine lost power and began to settle. The pilot released the external load and maneuvered away from the crews on the ground. The helicopter collided with the ground along a narrow forest road. The operations manager stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the engine. No evidence of fuel was observed at the accident site, and no fuel was recovered from the helicopter's fuel system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.