World 47D1 N17301

Summary

On 22 July 2001 at about 16:08 local time, a World 47D1 registered N17301 was involved in an accident near Ballard, Missouri, 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

22 July 2001 at 16:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Ballard, Missouri, United States

Coordinates

38.4347, -94.1092

Aircraft

World 47D1

Registration

N17301

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tonganoxie → Rolla

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI01FA231

2 people died.

The pilot's improper preflight planning which resulted in fuel exhaustion, and the pilot's subsequent improper autorotation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter impacted the terrain while performing an autorotation following a loss of engine power. The helicopter was examined and no anomalies could be found that could be associated with a pre-impact condition. About 10 ounces of fuel was all that could be drained from the fuel system. The fuel system was not compromised. A witness saw the helicopter above the tree line behind his house. He said that the helicopter, "...was in view for about 1 1/2 seconds when [the] motor pitch changed and [the] helicopter headed to its right dropping under [the] tree line. After losing sight of [the] helicopter [,] I heard a thud and no explosion and no longer could [hear] it any longer." The pilot had not been issued a pilot certificate other than a student pilot certificate. No instructor endorsement for solo flight was found in the pilot logbook, or on the student pilot certificate. The track data from a global positioning system receiver that was found at the accident site was downloaded to a computer and plotted on a sectional aeronautical chart. The first recorded position on the accident date was 39 degrees 8.5404 minutes north and 95 degrees 9.5766 minutes west at 1438:30 universal coordinated time (UTC). The last recorded position for the accident date was at 38 degrees 26.0904 minutes north and 94 degrees 6.5526 minutes west at 1608:46 UTC.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.