14 CFR Part 137: Agricultural
Accident occurred Monday, August 27, 2012 in Escalon, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 06/11/2014
Aircraft: ARROW FALCON EXPORTERS INC OH58, registration: N503DR
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot was finishing an agricultural application to an orchard when a witness observed the helicopter enter a steep right bank and then descend into the orchard. The helicopter was found lying on its right side, and several trees near the wreckage were damaged. The pilot could not recall the circumstances of the accident. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that, during the application, the pilot did not maintain sufficient clearance from the trees, which resulted in a collision with the trees, loss of control, and subsequent impact with the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from trees during a low-altitude agricultural application, which resulted in a loss of control and impact with the ground.
HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT
On August 27, 2012, at 0803 Pacific daylight time, an Arrow Falcon Exporters Inc OH-58C, N503DR, crashed in an almond orchard near Escalon, California. Del Rio Aviation, Inc., operated the helicopter under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. The commercial pilot was seriously injured, and the helicopter was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed.
The pilot had flown a 30-minute flight from his base to the almond orchard, where the helicopter's hoppers were loaded with 80 gallons of application product from a mixing truck located near the orchard. The truck driver stated to the sheriff that it appeared that the pilot was just about done with the load of chemicals when he observed the helicopter about a mile away. The helicopter banked up to the right at an angle that appeared to be steeper than normal, then it disappeared and never reappeared. The driver went to the location where he last saw the helicopter and found it crashed in the almond orchard. There was no post accident fire.
The pilot stated in the NTSB Form 6120 Pilot Aircraft Accident Report that he had no memory of the accident.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot, age 71, held commercial pilot certificates for airplane single engine and multiengine land, airplane single engine sea, instrument airplane, and rotorcraft-helicopter issued January 15, 2007. He held a second-class medical certificate with the limitation that he must have available glasses for near vision, issued January 12, 2012. The pilot reported that he had 15,653 hours of total flight time, and 11,075 hours flying helicopters in agricultural application.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The conventionally configured helicopter, serial number 71-20679, was manufactured in 1971. It was powered by a Rolls Royce T63-A-720 turboshaft engine rated at 420 horsepower. The operator reported that the most recent annual inspection was completed on July 18, 2012, at a total airframe time of 6,429.2 hours. Engine total time was 4,318.3 hours. The most recent 100-hour inspection was completed on August 26, 2012, at a total aircraft time of 7,019.3 hours.
An Arrow Falcon Exporters Inc, Model 3900-OH58 Spray System was installed on the helicopter, Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) SR00268LA. The Model 3900-OH58 Spray System consists of two 70-gallon cylindrical chemical tanks attached by quick disconnect pins on the left- and right-hand side of an "H" frame support that is bolted to the hard points of the landing gear attach fittings. The tanks are connected together through a cross feed tube so that they can be filled from either side by pressure or gravity fill provisions. The chemical is routed through the cross feed tube to a center outlet on the tube to the chemical pump. The center spray boom is 70" long and is mounted at airframe station 22 on the "H" frame support. It has provisions for mounting 12 spray nozzles or down tubes. Each outboard spray boom is connected to the center boom through a connector and to the "H" frame by one each vertical and horizontal strut for support.
WRECKAGE & IMPACT INFORMATION
The main wreckage was located between rows of almond trees laying on its right side. Several almond trees were damaged in the area of the wreckage. The main rotor hub was attached to the mast, both rotor blades had sheared off about 3 feet from the center of the rotor hub. The tail boom was attached and the tail rotor was connected. The right side hopper tank was crushed and the right landing skid had separated from the cross tubes at the attachment points. The hopper cross feed tube was connected to both left and right hopper tanks. The right spray bar was bent and collapsed under the helicopter, the left spray bar remained in place. The sheriff reported that on-scene he could detect the odor of agricultural application chemical and jet fuel.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the helicopter on-scene. He reported that the tail rotor and engine to transmission drive shafts had separated in shear. The tail rotor gearbox rotated freely and no metal chips were identified on the gearbox chip detector. The engine oil level was full, and the lower chip detector was free of metal chips. He traced the control system and established control continuity.
No mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded the normal operation of the helicopter.
http://registry.faa.gov/N503DR
NTSB Identification: WPR12LA371
14 CFR Part 137: Agricultural
Accident occurred Monday, August 27, 2012 in Escalon, CA
Aircraft: Arrow Falcon Exporters Inc OH58, registration: N503DR
Injuries: 1 Serious.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On August 27, 2012, at 0803 Pacific daylight time, an Arrow Falcon Exporters Inc OH-58C, N503DR, crashed in an almond orchard shortly after takeoff near Escalon, California. Del Rio Aviation, Inc., operated the helicopter under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. The commercial pilot was seriously injured, and the helicopter was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed.
The pilot was conducting the first aerial application of the day, and had flown a 30-minute flight from his base to the almond orchard. The helicopter was loaded with application product from a mixing truck located near the almond orchard being sprayed. The mixing truck driver stated that the helicopter took off, and as it was departing, it rolled hard to the right and impacted terrain. There was no post accident fire.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 503DR Make/Model: OH58 Description: OH-58C ROTORCRAFT
Date: 08/27/2012 Time: 1500
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Serious Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: ESCALON State: CA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N503DR HO-58C ROTORCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, NEAR ESCALON,
CA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 1 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Aerial Application Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: OAKLAND, CA (WP27) Entry date: 08/28/2012
A crop duster helicopter crashed in a rural part of Escalon on Monday morning, officials said.
Will Heryford/KCRA
ESCALON, Calif. (KCRA) — A crop duster helicopter crashed in a rural part of Escalon on Monday morning, officials said.
The San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department said the pilot, Bill Cavanaugh, was taken to San Joaquin General Hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.
The helicopter went down near East Lone Tree Road.
"You know the risks when you are flying a helicopter and airplanes for the Ag community. It's dangerous," said the pilot's son, Rick Cavanaugh, who went out to the scene to make sure no pesticides were released.
"My dad has more than 20,000 hours of flying. He was in an accident before that left him in critical condition for more than nine weeks," Cavanaugh said.
At this time, officials do not know what caused the helicopter to crash.
Authorities with the Federal Aviation Administration will assist in the investigation.
ESCALON, Calif. — Authorities say a 71-year-old pilot was hospitalized with minor injuries when his crop-duster helicopter crashed in a Central Valley orchard.
The Modesto Bee reports (http://bit.ly/U75K7d ) the helicopter went down about 8 a.m. Monday near Escalon, a community surrounded by farmland about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento.
The pilot was identified as Bill Cavanaugh by his son, Rick. The younger Cavanaugh told Sacramento television station KCRA that his father had logged more than 20,000 hours of flying.
The crash is under investigation.
