McDonnell Douglas Heli 369FF N530KD

Summary

On 30 September 2012 at about 14:20 local time, a McDonnell Douglas Heli 369FF registered N530KD, operated by Rogers Helicopters, was involved in an accident near Decorah, Iowa, United States. 2 people were 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

30 September 2012 at 14:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Decorah, Iowa, United States

Coordinates

43.2719, -91.7369

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas Heli 369FF

Registration

N530KD

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Rogers Helicopters

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Dodge → Decorah

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN12LA667

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to properly manage the helicopter's available fuel supply, which led to a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the improper calibration of the fuel gauge and the fuel-low warning light.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and his passenger were repositioning the helicopter and stopped twice to refuel. Each time they stopped the pilot topped off the fuel tank. During the second stop, the pilot used the airplane for personal reasons and flew for just over an hour. Before continuing on with the repositioning flight, the pilot added 15 gallons of fuel. Since this was not enough fuel to top off the tank, he referenced the fuel guage, which indicated 305-310 pounds of fuel on board. The pilot and passenger then departed on the next leg of their flight. About 58 minutes after they departed, the fuel-low caution light illuminated, indicating there was 35 pounds of fuel remaining. The pilot continued with the flight since he was within a few miles of the destination airport. About three minutes after the fuel-low caution light illuminated, the engine quit. The pilot made an autorotation to a mature corn field. The helicopter bounced upon touch down and rolled over on to its left side, which damaged the tail boom. Examination of the helicopter revealed only two drops of fuel were drained from the fuel sump and a 1/4-cup of fuel was drained from the fuel tank. Further examination revealed no mechancal deficiencies with the fuel system; however, when the fuel gauge and low-fuel caution light were tested they were found to not be calibrated correctly. The fuel gauge indicated a higher fuel total then what was actually in the fuel tank and the fuel-low caution light came on when there was only 19 pounds of fuel in the fuel tank versus 35 pounds. According to the operator, the low fuel-low caution light was inspected several months before the accident as part of a normal maintenance inspection. From the time this inspection was completed to the time of the accident, no other maintenance was performed on the fuel quantity sensor system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.