They landed at Perryton but found no one at the FBO. There was a self-service pump, but, to quote from the pilot’s account on the NTSB’s Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report form (Form 6120.1): “I began paying for the fuel and getting the grounding cable and hose pulled out for the refuel. I couldn’t get the fuel pump to operate correctly. I threw every switch and pressed every button on the pump and it did not work. I called the airfield manager on the number that was left on the desk and there was no answer. Left a message asking for help with the pump. My passenger and I walked around the air- field looking in hangars to try to find someone that might be able to help and weren’t able to find anyone. We still had over half a tank of fuel so we decided to depart and fly a new main line to the north and we would break off for fuel at a nearby airfield.” As they flew north past Ashland, Kansas, the pilot decided to refuel at Comanche County Airport (3K8) in Coldwater, Kansas. While plan- ning the flight that morning, he’d identified 3K8 as offering full-ser- vice Jet A, but “upon arrival that was not the case.” The Wichita sectional chart depicts 3K8 with symbols indicating fuel is avail- able, but the FAA’s Chart Supplement (formerly the Airport/ Facility Directory) lists only 100LL gasoline. The pilot surmised that he must have mistakenly pulled up the listing for Comanche County, Texas, instead. With the fuel gauge showing
15 gallons and the nearest source of Jet A 40 nm northeast at Pratt Regional Airport (KPTT), no avail- able options looked good. Hopes to flag down a motorist for help faded as 20 minutes went by without a single vehicle passing the airport. The pilot ultimately decided “to fly north 15 to 20 miles and find a road to land next
to” as offering a better chance to flag down a passing vehicle or “even be able to get a call out from the fuel truck at KPTT.”
About 20 miles northeast of 3K8, the helicopter crossed a sizable wind farm, one of many in the area. After clearing the turbines, “we [were] pushing 25 to 30 miles and I was looking for a good spot next to a road.” He identified a landing site and set up the approach, but at about 100 ft. agl and 40 to 50 kt. the engine flamed out due to lack of fuel. The pilot entered autorotation but touched down hard. “The nose pitched down and the tail came over the top, and the aircraft came to rest on the left-hand side,” he reported. The skids separated, the main rotor
severed the tail boom, and the helicopter rolled onto its left side. Its owner described the main and tail rotors as “completely destroyed.” The pilot and pho- tographer escaped through the shattered windows. While the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) offi- cially classified their injuries as “minor,” the pilot described the photographer as “bleeding badly in a few places,” which he helped dress. After finding his phone in the wreckage, he was able to call 911.
The Aircraft The Bell 206 has a semi-rigid, teetering, two-bladed main rotor and a conventional two-bladed tail rotor driven by a single Rolls-Royce (formerly Allison) M250 tur- bine engine rated for 420 shp. Standard fuel capacity is 91 gallons. At its last 100- hour inspection 15 days before the acci- dent, the 1972-model helicopter had logged 22,057 hours. It was registered in the restricted category with a Part 133 external-load certificate.
The Alternatives The two obvious decision points during the flight were the departures from Perryton and Comanche County. (On the ground with the engine shut down, the risk of an accident is just about zero.) However, oppor- tunities to avoid the accident were available before the pilot and photographer left Dodge City. Small airports in rural areas don’t get a lot of traffic and conse- quently may not pay for continu- ous staffing. An advance call to Perryton advising of an ETA might have improved the prospects of someone being there to help— and if no one answered, flagged that airport as unreliable for fuel-planning purposes. Several more options were
The Bell 206’s main rotor and tail rotor were completely destroyed as a result of the accident. (National Transportation Safety Board/Local Authority Photo)
open after they landed at Perryton. Perhaps the simplest and potentially most useful was to phone back to base, asking for help identifying fueling stops that aligned at least somewhat with their inspection schedule. (The helicopter’s operator is a substan- tial firm specializing in power-line and pipeline inspections by both
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