Bell 47G-5 N7885S

Summary

On 28 July 2000 at about 12:40 local time, a Bell 47G-5 registered N7885S was involved in an accident near King City, California, 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

28 July 2000 at 12:40

Classification

Accident

Location

King City, California, United States

Coordinates

36.2010, -120.9399

Aircraft

Bell 47G-5

Registration

N7885S

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

LAX00LA280

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's intentional flight into adverse weather which resulted in loss of visual reference and flight into power transmission wires and terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the agricultural application helicopter took off at dawn and was en route to the spraying location beneath a 300-foot overcast cloud ceiling with 1/4 to 1/2-mile flight visibility. The helicopter flew into a fog bank and the pilot lost visual contact with the ground. He lowered the collective control and descended toward the ground to regain visual reference; however, the tail rotor contacted power transmission wires before he regained visual contact. He then lowered the collective further and reduced engine power to regain directional control and the helicopter made a hard impact with the ground in an upright attitude.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.