Bell 206B N882NY

Summary

On 1 July 2022 at about 21:30 local time, a Bell 206B registered N882NY, operated by MF Helicopters LLC, was involved in an accident near East Troy, Wisconsin, 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

1 July 2022 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

East Troy, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

East Troy Muni (57C)

Coordinates

42.7777, -88.3888

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N882NY

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1972

Engines

1

Operator

MF Helicopters LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA305

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s improper fuel management that resulted in fuel exhaustion and a loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While approaching to land on a support truck, the helicopter experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot attempted to autorotate to land and the helicopter experienced a hard landing. The right skid broke, and the main rotor blades struck the ground and the tail boom. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and tail boom. The pilot attributed the loss of engine power due to a possible fuel pump failure. During a telephone interview the pilot said that he took off from the airport ramp to refuel and the fuel gauge indicated about 15 to 20 gallons. He climbed the helicopter to about 40 ft, flew about 150 yards, and landed on a support truck where the helicopter idled for about 15 minutes while ground personnel attempted to get the truck fuel pump to work. One of the ground personnel waved the pilot off to another support truck. The helicopter climbed to about 40 ft and moved about 35 - 50 yards to a second support truck. As the helicopter approached to land, the tachometer dropped then spiked, and then the engine lost power. The pilot nosed the helicopter over to avoid the truck and the helicopter hit the ground. When asked the pilot answered, "I guess I ran out of fuel". A postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that the fuel tanks were dry and the fuel gauge indicated 0 gallons of fuel.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.