Hiller UH-12B N5304V

Summary

On 22 February 2004 at about 16:25 local time, a Hiller UH-12B registered N5304V, operated by Danny Bals, was involved in an accident near Bradenton, Florida, 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

22 February 2004 at 16:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Bradenton, Florida, United States

Coordinates

27.3953, -82.5542

Aircraft

Hiller UH-12B

Registration

N5304V

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Danny Bals

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Orlando → Sarasota

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC04LA027

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Also causal was the pilot's failure to maintain adequate rotor speed, resulting in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot was on a solo cross-country helicopter flight as part of a helicopter add-on rating. He reported that he thought that there was enough fuel for about 1.7 hours of flight time, but after only 1.5 hours of flight time, as the flight neared the destination heliport, the engine began to run rough and lose power. He said that he lowered the helicopter's collective and entered an autorotation, and selected an unoccupied playground as an emergency landing site. As the helicopter descended into the playground area, he had to raise the collective to avoid a stand of trees, and the main rotor speed decayed. The helicopter's skids subsequently struck the ground hard, and the helicopter rolled onto its right side. The helicopter sustained structural damage to the fuselage, tail boom, and main rotor drive system. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the helicopter. An FAA inspector who inspected the helicopter and spoke with the pilot, noted that the helicopter's fuel tank appeared empty, and stated that that the pilot agreed with him.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.