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Atlas / NTSB / FTW79FRG10

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW79FRG10

1978-12-06 ALAMO, Texas, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N972B

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BELL 47G-2

Year of manufacture

1959 · 19 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING VO-435 SERIES (260 hp)

Seats / Engines

3 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19940928

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AD8B2C

Registrant of record

REGISTRATION PENDING

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

BELL 47G-2 · N972B

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Balloon

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EG

Operator type

Part 135 (air taxi/commuter)

Kind of flying

CA

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Wind

130° / 7 kt

Temp

80° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000000001320

Total time

4,503 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial

Total hours

1,013

Age

26

Investigator remarks

LOST ROTOR RPM DURING TURNAROUND.

Cause factors

  • 64/A/08 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND DIVERTED ATTENTION FROM OPERATION OF AIRCRAFT Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 64/A/18 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ROTOR R.P.M. Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 83/J/A J
    TERRAIN WET,SOFT GROUND Joint cause

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 3861. Source file NTSB_1978_3_3861.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.