FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

ATL82DA036 · Bell 206B

17 Jan 1982 · CENTERVILLE, AL, United States

Air Logistics Bell 206B · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) while maneuvering

From CENTERVILLE, AL to CENTERVILLE, AL

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
ATL82DA036
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Bell 206B

Aircraft type
Bell 206
Category
Helicopter
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N203AL
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From CENTERVILLE, ALTo CENTERVILLE, AL
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering · hover
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Fuel contamination; Fuel starvation
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Fluid, fuel › Ice
  • Fluid, fuel › Starvation
  • Fluid, fuel › Water
  • Fuel system, filter › Blocked(total)
  • Weather condition › Temperature extremes

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE MISHAP OCCURRED DURING A PRACTICE HOVER WITH A 100 FT CABLE IN PREPARATION FOR AN EXTERNAL LOAD OPERATION. WHILE HOVERING ABOUT 100 FT AGL, THE FUEL BOOST PUMP LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE BOOST PUMP PRESSURE DROPPED TO ZERO. A DESCENT WAS STARTED; HOWEVER, WHILE STILL AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL, THE ENGINE LOST ALL POWER. THE PILOT ENTERED AN AUTOROTATION, BUT THE AIRCRAFT LANDED HARD. THE PILOT NOTED FROST ON THE FUEL CAP THAT WAS NOT PRESENT DURING THE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION. ALSO, A SMALL AMOUNT OF ICE WAS OBSERVED FLOATING IN THE FUEL ABOUT 45 MINUTES AFTER THE ACCIDENT. DURING A SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE AND AIRCRAFT, WATER WAS FOUND IN THE FUEL TANK, AIRFRAME FUEL FILTER, ENGINE FUEL PUMP FILTER AND HIGH PRESSURE FUEL FILTER. THE FUEL SUPPLY LINE FROM THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL FILTER TO THE FUEL CONTROL WAS EMPTY. ANTI-ICE FUEL ADDITIVE WAS NOT REQUIRED IN THE FUEL, SINCE THIS BELL 206B WAS EQUIPPED WITH AN AIRFRAME FUEL FILTER. THE SOURCE OF WATER/ICE COULD NOT BE DETERMINED. TEMPERATURE MINUS 1 DEG F.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ATL82DA036
Event ID
20020917X01660
Case number
ATL82DA036
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: b75e37e02a025e48d8de8626d72cbbd773ca0a642c12bf6617546b55f150400f; retrieved 2026-09-24T03:47:01.046Z.