Accident Overview
On July 24, 2015, about 1800 central daylight time, a Bell 47G 4A helicopter, N1396X, made a forced landing after a loss of engine power near Gilbert, Iowa. The commercial-rated pilot and sole occupant was not injured. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Fly Right Heli LLC, Adel, Iowa, under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
Pilot Report
The pilot reported that he was returning to his truck to refill the helicopter with more application material. While flying about 150 ft above ground level, he maneuvered the helicopter upward to avoid an obstacle. During the maneuver, he rapidly pitched the nose up to climb and then pitched the nose down to a steep angle of descent. When the helicopter entered the nose-low attitude, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot then made a forced landing to a corn field. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter. He speculated that the loss of engine power was attributed to the nose-low attitude, which allowed the fuel to shift in the tanks and starve the engine of fuel. He also reported that he never flew the helicopter with less than one quarter of the fuel tanks full (about 15.25 gallons).
Postaccident Examination
Responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors conducted a postaccident examination of the helicopter and an engine test run. The helicopter's rotor blades, fuselage, and tailboom sustained impact-related damage. Due to the impact damage, a flight control check could not be accomplished. During the test run, the engine operated normally and no anomalies were noted. The inspectors recovered 11 to 12 gallons of aviation gasoline from the fuel tanks. The helicopter's flight manual indicated that the helicopter is capable of carrying 61 total gallons of fuel, 57.5 usable gallons. A review of the maintenance records revealed that an annual inspection was completed on July 1, 2015. The same logbook entry indicated that an engine overhaul and 1,200-hour inspection were completed on the transmission and main rotor mast.
Flight Manual Notes
A review of the helicopter's flight manual yielded no limitation on minimum fuel or limitations of maneuvers due to low fuel quantity. The helicopter's Type Certificate owner stated that if the helicopter was low on fuel and then put into an abrupt nose-low attitude, it is possible that the engine was starved of fuel.