NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX95LA214
Registry · N115B
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
JIM KIMBALL ENTERPRISES PITTS MODEL 12
Year of manufacture
2002
Engine
AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20020517
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A03EDF
Registrant of record
WEBER DAVID A
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's improper handling of the helicopter by her failure to maintain an adequate airspeed for the attempted maneuver resulting in an uncontrolled descent and subsequent collision with the ground.
Factual narrative
On June 18, 1995, at 1017 hours Pacific daylight time, a Bell 47G-2 helicopter, N115B, collided with the ground following an in-flight loss of control during aerial application of a Category II fungicide on a celery field near Nipomo, California. The helicopter was being operated by English Air Service under 14 CFR Part 137 when the accident occurred. The helicopter was destroyed. The airline transport pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. According to the operator, the helicopter was in a downwind condition during a maneuvering turn and settled to the ground. The accident occurred during the second pass on the second run of the day. The operator estimated the helicopter had approximately 50 gallons of fungicide onboard at the time of the accident. The pilot indicated on the Pilot/Operator Accident Report, that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter before the accident. THE PILOT LOST CONTROL DURING A MANEUVERING TURN AND COLLIDED WITH A CULTIVATED FIELD DURING AERIAL APPLICATION OF A CATEGORY II FUNGICIDE. THE HELICOPTER WAS IN A DOWNWIND CONDITION DURING THE TURN AND SETTLED TO THE GROUND. THE HELICOPTER HAD ABOUT 50 GALLONS OF FUNGICIDE ONBOARD AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE PILOT INDICATED THAT THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES WITH THE HELICOPTER BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1995_LAX95LA214.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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