Agusta A109 N129AL
22 September 2009 · Page, Arizona, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 22 September 2009 at about 23:00 local time, a Agusta A109 registered N129AL, operated by Omniflight Helicopters, was involved in an accident near Page, Arizona, 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.
The record
- Date
- at 23:00
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Page, Arizona, United States
- Nearest airport
- Page Municipal Airport (KPGA)
- Coordinates
- 36.9261, -111.4483
- Aircraft
- Agusta A109
- Registration
- N129AL
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Omniflight Helicopters
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Positioning
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Mesa → Page
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- WPR09CA462
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning and his decision to continue flight with a known low fuel level state.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that at 70 miles from his destination he determined that he would be landing closer to minimum fuel than he had planned. He continued to the destination and passed over one airport because it did not have any services. At 35 miles from the destination, the low fuel caution-warning for fuel tank 2 illuminated, followed by a low fuel caution-warning for fuel tank 1. The pilot thought that he would still land with some reserve and continued to fly to his destination airport. Approximately 1 mile from the destination airport the helicopter experienced a dual engine flame-out. The pilot autorotated to a sports field where the helicopter landed hard, sustaining damage to the main rotor blades, tail rotor, tail boom, and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that the helicopter and engines had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Agusta A109 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Oct 2010 | Agusta A109 | New Castle, United Kingdom | N2NR INC Trustee | Fatal | 3 |
| 7 May 2007 | Agusta A.109 MK.II | Cork, Ireland | Blue Star Helicopters | Unknown | - |
| 22 Dec 2007 | Agusta A109 | ST. Augustine, Florida, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 28 Jul 2012 | Agusta A109 | Jiquipilco, Mexico | - | Fatal | 3 |
| 8 Nov 2005 | Agusta A109-E | Robbinsdale, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 17 Sep 2016 | Agusta A109 | Alexandria, Minnesota, United States | North Memorial Air Care | Serious injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Jul 2009 | Piper PA-28R-180 | Tucson, Arizona, United States | New Mexico Flying Eagle Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 22 Apr 2009 | Cessna 172E | Tucson, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 21 Apr 2009 | De Havilland DHC-8 | Phoenix, Arizona, United States | Mesa Airlines | No injuries | - |
| 4 Oct 2009 | Piper PA-24-250 | Black Canyon City, Arizona, United States | Ralph Smith | Fatal | 2 |
| 11 Dec 2009 | Cessna 182P | Payson, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 2 Mar 2009 | Cosmos PHASE 2 | Salome, Arizona, United States | - | No injuries | - |