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WPR13CA342

2013-07-25 · Hilo, Hawaii, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PHTO

Current FAA registration · N500PH

Make / Model
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELICOPTER 369E
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A63B3D

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

A loss of engine power due to the pilot's improper planning and  mismanagement of the fuel supply, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

Factual narrative

During a round trip tour flight, the pilot determined that the fuel state was low, and decided to return to the airport. The flight entered the airport environment and the pilot requested priority handling for a low fuel state. The engine subsequently lost power and the pilot initiated an autorotation to a field at the approach end of the runway. During the landing the helicopter's skid collapsed and the helicopter rolled over on to its right side which resulted in substantial damage. The operator indicated that there were no preimpact malfunctions or failures with the engine or airframe that would have precluded normal operation.         During a round trip tour flight, the pilot determined that the fuel state was low, and decided to return to the airport. The flight entered the airport environment and the pilot requested priority handling for a low fuel state. The engine subsequently lost power and the pilot initiated an autorotation to a field at the approach end of the runway. During the landing the helicopter's skid collapsed and the helicopter rolled over on to its right side which resulted in substantial damage. The operator indicated that there were no preimpact malfunctions or failures with the engine or airframe that would have precluded normal operation.       Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid management - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_WPR13CA342.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers