Bell 47-G5 N4741R

Summary

On 23 May 2006 at about 14:20 local time, a Bell 47-G5 registered N4741R was involved in an accident near Soledad, California, 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

23 May 2006 at 14:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Soledad, California, United States

Coordinates

36.4228, -121.3439

Aircraft

Bell 47-G5

Registration

N4741R

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Soledad → Salmina Ranch

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06CA180

Nobody was injured.

fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inaccurate fuel consumption calculations and failure to refuel the helicopter which resulted in a loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter crashed in a field following a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot performed a preflight and checked the fuel quantity prior to departure. The level in the tank was approximately 1 inch below the cap. The pilot left the operator's facility approximately 0525. From 0525 to 0715 he sprayed 14 loads on various fields, totaling approximately 99 minutes of flight. As the pilot was flying to his next job, the engine lost power, about 0720. At this point, the helicopter's fuel gauges read about 1/4 full and he assumed that he had 10-15 minutes of fuel remaining. When the engine lost power he lowered the collective and turned into the wind, then the helicopter impacted the ground. The pilot stated that the helicopter and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. The operator said the helicopter has an engine that burns about 16 gallons of fuel per hour. It also has a capacity of 28 gallons of usable fuel, which equates to approximately 105 minutes of fuel. According to the pilot's statement he flew about 99 minutes. The operator said that with the fuel down about an inch when the pilot started, fuel exhaustion was inevitable. The pilot was instructed to refuel every hour or every 10 loads. Each load takes approximately 6 minutes.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.