Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West 30Th Street Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New York, New York 10001
Wednesday, December 31, 1997 16:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter had completed a sightseeing tour and was returning to its departure point. The helicopter approached the heliport from the northwest with a tailwind and was cleared to land on the 'Transient' pad. The helicopter over flew the Transient pad and collided with the Control Room Building at the heliport. The pilot said the helicopter 'settled fast' as he applied collective pitch to arrest his descent. He said the helicopter was too close to the terminal building to attempt a go-around. The pilot added more collective pitch as he came over the landing surface but was unable to stop the helicopter prior to collision with the terminal building. He reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the helicopter. The winds reported at the time of the accident were from 290 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 25 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's misjudgment of distance and speed on final approach with a tailwind, and his failure to perform a go-around in a timely manner. A factor in the accident was the strong tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/31/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1625 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | NEW YORK |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10001 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WEST 30TH STREET HELIPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JRA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EWR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 2 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1767 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 31 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1712 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N355DS |
| NTSB Number | NYC98LA058 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS-355 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS-355 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5110 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5291 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 23 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 4345 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MERIDIAN CONSULTING CO. INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | LINDEN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT RT 9 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LINDEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07036 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LIBERTY HELICOPTERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 25B VREELAND ROAD |
| Operator City | FLORHAM PARK |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 07932 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | JRA |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1613 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |