6 Jul 2013: BELL 47G-3B-1 — Reabe Spraying Service

6 Jul 2013: BELL 47G-3B-1 (N7924S) — Reabe Spraying Service

No fatalities • Plover, WI, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain proper engine rpm, which resulted in a high rate of descent and ground impact.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On July 6, 2013, about 1110 central daylight time, a Bell 47G-3B-1 helicopter, N7924S, sustained substantial during an agricultural aerial application flight near Plover, Wisconsin. The pilot was performing a 180-degree course reversal when the helicopter impacted the terrain. The pilot, the sole occupant, received minor injuries. The helicopter was registered to 102 Leasing LLC and operated by Reabe Spraying Service under the provisions of the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from a private airstrip near Plover, Wisconsin, about 1105.

The pilot reported that he was finishing the field after having flown about 5 hours of aerial application flights for the day. On the accident flight, the helicopter was fueled with about 1/2 tank of fuel and about 4 gallons of pesticide. He completed the last pass along the west side of the field traveling to the north. He turned to the southeast and completed spraying a short segment of the field. He pulled up and did a 180-degree turn to the right. During the turn, the engine and rotor rpm were about 2,000 rpm when he started to reapply power. He rolled out of the turn and the helicopter impacted the field.

During an interview with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot reported that the engine was at 3,200 rpm (full power) during takeoff. During the course reversal turn, the engine was about 2,000 rpm, and he was reapplying power back to 3,200 rpm during the rollout when the helicopter impacted the field.

FAA inspectors examined the helicopter and determined that the collective, cyclic, and anti-torque pedals exhibited flight control continuity. The examination of the engine's fuel system and ignition system revealed no anomalies. The compression test revealed that all six cylinders had normal compression readings. The main rotor tachometer and engine tachometer were checked and were found operational. A teardown of the engine was conducted and no anomalies were noted which would have prevented normal operation.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • cause Prop/rotor parameters — Not attained/maintained
  • cause Descent rate — Not attained/maintained

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 190/08kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.