Bell 47G2 N4021A

Summary

On 19 February 1982 at about 14:40 local time, a Bell 47G2 registered N4021A, operated by MAR Aviation, was involved in an accident near Brawley, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

19 February 1982 at 14:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Brawley, California, United States

Coordinates

33.0210, -115.4495

Aircraft

Bell 47G2

Registration

N4021A

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

MAR Aviation

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Brawley → Brawley

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX82FA077

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PILOT VISUALLY CHECKED THE GAS TANK BEFORE TAKEOFF AND ESTIMATED THERE WAS ABOUT 1/4 TANK OF FUEL. HE THEN STARTED THE ENGINE AND HOVERED OVER TO THE WATER TANKER AND LOADED 60 GALLONS OF WATER IN THE SPRAY TANK IN ORDER TO CALIBRATE THE NUMBER OF GALLONS PER ACRE THE RIG SPRAYED. AFTER SPRAYING SOME WATER ON THE GROUND HE ASKED THE TANKER OPERATOR TO REFUEL HIS HELICOPTER BUT WAS TOLD THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE SINCE THE PUMP WAS INOPERABLE. THE MECHANIC LOOKED IN THE GAS TANK AND TOLD THE PILOT IT WAS OK TO MOVE TO THE GAS PUMP. THE PILOT PICKED UP THE HELICOPTER AND MOVED TO AN ADJACENT WHEAT FIELD TO SPRAY OUT THE REMAINING WATER AT WHICH TIME THE ENGINE FAILED TO PRODUCE POWER. THE HELICOPTER WAS AUTOROTATED FROM AN ESTIMATED 7 FEET.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.