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Aviation accident CEN11FA599

4 fatal · EUROCOPTER AS-350-B2 · 2011-08-26 · Mosby, MO, USA

Event

NTSB number
CEN11FA599
Event ID
20110827X00428
Type
Accident
Date
2011-08-26
Location
Mosby, MO, USA
Coordinates
39.356666, -94.2975

Injuries

Highest injury
FATL
Fatal
4
Serious
0
Minor
0
Uninjured
0
Total aboard
4

Aircraft

Make
EUROCOPTER
Model
AS-350-B2
Registration
N352LN
FAR Part
135
Engines
1
Damage
SUBS

Conditions

Light
DAYL
Weather
VMC

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to confirm that the helicopter had adequate fuel on board to complete the mission before making the first departure, his improper decision to continue the mission and make a second departure after he became aware of a critically low fuel level, and his failure to successfully enter an autorotation when the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident were (1) the pilot's distracted attention due to personal texting during safety-critical ground and flight operations, (2) his degraded performance due to fatigue, (3) the operator's lack of a policy requiring that an operational control center specialist be notified of abnormal fuel situations, and (4) the lack of practice representative of an actual engine failure at cruise airspeed in the pilot's autorotation training in the accident make and model helicopter.

Source

Authoritative
NTSB CAROL
Machine
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