14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, May 30, 2014 in Whitefield, ME
Probable Cause Approval Date: 05/13/2015
Aircraft: GARLICK HELICOPTERS INC OH 58A+, registration: N650MH
Injuries: 1 Minor.
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 reported that he departed with a quantity of fuel that would nominally provide for 1.2 hours of flight. Twenty minutes into the 45-minute flight, the master caution warning light illuminated with no discernible corresponding panel segment caution light. The published emergency procedure for this scenario was to land as soon as possible. Instead, the pilot continued flight as the master caution warning light illuminated three more times over the next 15 minutes. The engine then experienced a total loss of power. The pilot entered an autorotation and completed a forced landing to trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the helicopter. A detailed examination of the fuel system and associated warnings, airframe, engine controls, and fluid and pneumatic lines and a test run of the engine revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. About 10 to 11 gallons (65 pounds) of fuel were recovered from the helicopter, of which 1.3 gallons was unusable. Examination of the master caution light and associated caution panel segment lights revealed that the segment lights were positioned to the “dim” setting, which would have made it difficult or impossible to read in daylight conditions. The low fuel caution light was set to illuminate when there was between 65 and 98 pounds of fuel remaining. However, the manual advised that that illumination of the low fuel caution light does not mean that a fixed time remains and that the remaining fuel may not be available unless the helicopter remains in level or coordinated flight.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to land as soon as possible when the master caution warning light first illuminated as prescribed and his failure to ensure the proper setting of the caution panel segment lights before the flight.
On May 30, 2014, about 1437 eastern daylight time, a Garlick Helicopters Inc. OH-58A+ helicopter, N650MH, was substantially damaged during a forced landing after a total loss of engine power while on approach to Maine Helicopters Helipad (ME59), Whitefield, Maine. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the positioning flight, which departed Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport (BHB), Bar Harbor, Maine, about 1350. The flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
In a telephone interview with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot stated he departed BHB with the fuel gauge indicating 225-250 pounds of fuel. Twenty minutes into the flight, the MASTER CAUTION warning light "flickered" and the fuel gauge indicated 100-125 lbs of fuel. Five minutes later, the MASTER CAUTION warning light flickered again, and the fuel gauge indicated 100-125 lbs of fuel. Five minutes after that, the MASTER CAUTION warning light flickered a third time at a fuel reading of 100-125 lbs of fuel, and thirty seconds later, at 50-100 lbs, the engine stopped producing power.
In a written statement, the pilot reported that he departed BHB with 37 gallons (245 lbs) of fuel on board, and that the flight was "uneventful" until the MASTER CAUTION warning light "flashed." He was unable to decipher the caution panel segment light associated with the brief illumination of the warning light, and shortly thereafter, the helicopter experienced a total loss of engine power over wooded terrain. The pilot entered autorotation, maneuvered the helicopter to an area of the shortest timber, and cushioned the landing as the helicopter entered the trees. The helicopter came to rest upright, and the pilot egressed without assistance.
The pilot told first responders that he "had an issue with fuel" and told his employer immediately following the accident that he "ran out of fuel."
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for rotorcraft-helicopter and instrument helicopter. His most recent FAA second class medical certificate was issued on June 19, 2013. The pilot reported 3,723 total hours of flight experience, of which 1,475 hours were in the accident helicopter make and model.
According to FAA records, the helicopter was manufactured in 1971 by Bell Helicopter for the U.S. Army as an OH-58A and was later remanufactured by Garlick Helicopters for civilian use. According to company records, its most recent 100-hour inspection was completed March 24, 2014, at 10,726 total aircraft hours. The helicopter had accrued 91 hours since that date.
Interpolation of performance charts revealed that the fuel consumption rate at 100 knots was approximately 200 lbs per hour.
A preliminary examination of the wreckage was performed by an FAA aviation safety inspector. He reported substantial damage to the fuselage and tailboom, and confirmed flight and engine control continuity. Operation of the fuel boost pump was also confirmed, and approximately 10-11 gallons (65 pounds) of fuel was recovered from the helicopter, of which 1.3 gallons was unusable.
A detailed examination of the helicopter was performed by the airframe and engine manufacturers under the supervision of an FAA inspector. The integrity and continuity of the fuel system was confirmed, the fuel boost pump was operational, and the LOW FUEL segment light alternately extinguished and illuminated within the manufacturer's limits as fuel was added and drained from the helicopter. The light illuminated and stayed illuminated with approximately 10 gallons of fuel in the tank.
A detailed examination of the fuel system and associated warnings, airframe, engine controls, and fluid and pneumatic lines revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The engine was started, and ran on the airframe continuously and without interruption. The throttle was opened fully, and the engine ran continuously at 103 percent. When the throttle was reduced to flight idle, the engine ran above the manufacturer's flight idle range, due to impact-related deformation of the engine controls between the throttle and the engine.
Examination of the MASTER CAUTION warning light and associated segment panel lights revealed that the segment lights were set to the "dim" position.
According to the Operator's Manual, the corrective action for the illumination of the MASTER CAUTION was, "Check for Caution Panel segment light illumination, if none, LAND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."
According to the Operator's Manual:
d. Low Fuel Quantity Caution Light: The LOW FUEL caution light, (figure 2-13 and figure 2-14), located in caution panel, should illuminate when there is approximately 20 minutes or 65 to 98 pounds of fuel remaining. The illumination of this light does not mean a fixed time remains. When the 20 minute fuel caution light is on, the fuel remaining may not be available except when the aircraft is in level or coordinated flight. The 20 minute fuel caution light in conjunction with a fuel boost caution light may indicate impending fuel starvation.
http://registry.faa.gov/N650MH
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the Whitefield helicopter crash in which a pilot escaped serious injury on May 30, an NTSB investigator said June 2.
The agency has given Maine Helicopters permission to take the aircraft out of the woods where the crash occurred and return it to the business, but has not given the business permission to examine the helicopter, NTSB air safety investigator Brian Rayner said.
The Federal Aviation Administration did on-scene work on May 31 and may continue to help, but the NTSB will take the lead and will send a small team to examine the helicopter, Rayner said in a telephone interview Monday. Parts of the craft may be removed and taken to a lab or a factory for further study, Rayner said.
Rayner, one of about 45 air safety investigators in the 400-investigator transportation safety agency, estimated the investigation will take about a year.
The NTSB investigates aircraft crashes if there is either substantial damage to the craft or serious injury to any occupants, Rayner said.
“Thankfully, in this instance, it’s because of the substantial damage, and not serious injury to the occupant,” he said.
FAA and Lincoln County Sheriff’s officials have said the pilot was alone in the helicopter when it crashed in the woods off East River Road on Friday afternoon. A sheriff’s detective said the pilot told another officer that the helicopter had run out fuel.
Asked about the reported statement, Rayner said some fuel was recovered from the aircraft, but that he had no additional information about it. The investigation will include a look at the entire fuel system, including the fuel pump and fuel lines, he said.
The agency will look at the same things it looks at in any investigation, including the pilot’s training and experience, and environmental aspects such as wind conditions, Rayner said.
“Then we’re going to see what falls out.”
The Wiscasset Newspaper has been unable to confirm the pilot’s identity. East River Road resident Kathleen Woodbury found him on her land after she and several other people in the area heard the crash. When she got to him on her all-terrain vehicle, he was on his feet and bleeding from the head. Woodbury said that the pilot said he was fine.
The May 30 crash of this helicopter in the woods of Whitefield will be the subject of an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Federal investigators planned to be in Whitefield on Saturday, May 31, at the scene of a May 30 helicopter crash in the woods off East River Road, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detective Ron Rollins said. The pilot told another officer the helicopter had run out of fuel, Rollins said.
The pilot, the helicopter’s lone occupant, was able to get out of the damaged craft and walk out of the woods after he was found, Whitefield Fire Captain Tom Feeney said at the scene.
“He was very fotunate. He walked out on his own power, so that was a big thing,” Feeney said.
Landowner Kathleen Woodbury said she found the pilot, already outside the helicopter and on his feet, near the edge of her property. She was outside her home doing yardwork when she heard what sounded like a helicopter in trouble. She and several neighbors said they are used to hearing helicopters come and go from Maine Helicopters nearby, but that what they heard Friday afternoon sounded different. Some described clunking or other sounds, then dead silence followed by a loud crashing sound.
“I’m just glad I was here to hear it,” Woodbury said. She went out looking on her all-terrain vehicle and found the craft and the pilot, a long way into the woods. He was bleeding from the head but said he was fine, she said.
Delta Ambulance later took the pilot to an area hospital, emergency officials said at the scene.
Maine Helicopters’ director of maintenance Jim McCully confirmed the helicopter belonged to the business. He described the helicopter as substantially damaged.
The Federal Aviation Administration will be handling the investigation into the crash, Rollins said. The sheriff’s department is not investigating; its role was to help in the effort to find the pilot and then secure the scene, he said.
Several agencies helped in the incident. “It was a great response,” Rollins said. In addition to the sheriff’s department, Delta Ambulance, Whitefield Fire Department and Whitefield Emergency Medical Service, other responding agencies included the Maine Warden’s Service and Maine Forest Service; a Maine State Police plane was on the way but was turned back after the pilot was located, Rollins said.
The pilot’s name was not yet being released. He was believed to be 50 years old, Rollins said.
The crash was reported in an area off East River Road near Maine Helicopters Inc., owner of the aircraft.
The crash was reported shortly after 2 p.m. in a wooded area off East River Road, near Clary Lake and Route 126. Maine Helicopters Inc., which owns the helicopter, is about a mile away to the south.
“It’s one of our aircraft,” said retired employee Andrew Berry, who answered the phone at the business Friday afternoon. The company’s employees “are already there, and there are no injuries. He (the pilot) is an employee. He’s OK.”
The helicopter crashed on the property of Kathleen Woodbury, who said she heard a loud sound of trees crunching and called 911.
“I went out on a four-wheeler. It’s thick back there,” Woodbury said.
When she found the helicopter, she saw it had landed straight down in the woods and was upright, and the male pilot was out of the helicopter and alert. The pilot’s name was not immediately available.
“He seemed OK,” Woodbury said. “He just hit his head.”
As a precaution, emergency responders took the pilot to the Alfond Center for Health in Augusta for an evaluation.
The Federal Aviation Administration has since closed off access to the crash site area.
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