Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Miami, Florida 33316
Thursday, March 8, 1990 11:16 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE HELICOPTER WAS IN CRUISE FLT OVR THE OCEAN, WHEN THE PLT HEARD A LOUD NOISE & NOTED A LOSS OF ENG POWER. HE ENTERED AN AUTOROTATION & TOLD THE PSGRS TO PUT ON THEIR LIFE JACKETS. AT ABT 100' ABV THE WATER, HE DEPLOYED THE EMERG FLOATS, THEN SUCCESSFULLY LANDED IN THE OCEAN ABOUT 3 MI FROM SHORE. AFTER LNDG, A WAVE HIT THE HELICOPTER & IT ROLLED OVR. THE PLT & PSGRS GOT ONTO THE BELLY OF THE HELICOPTER, THEN THE PLT DOVE UNDER THE WATER & RETRIEVED THE ELT. HOWEVER, AFTER HE ACTIVATED THE ELT, ANOTHER WAVE HIT & THE PLT DROPPED IT AS HE REACHED TO HELP A PSGR. ONE PSGR EXPIRED ABT 8 HRS LATER & THE OTR PSGR EXPIRED ABT 15 HRS AFTER THE ACDNT. BOTH DIED FM DROWNING. THE ACDNT OCCURRED AT ABT 1115 EST; THE COAST GUARD WAS NOTIFIED OF THE SITUATION AT 1530 EST. THE PLT WAS RESCUED AT 0430 EST THE NEXT DAY. A SUBSEQUENT EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT A POWER TURBINE BLADE HAD FAILED FROM FATIGUE, WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF ENG POWER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FATIGUE FAILURE OF AN ENGINE TURBINE BLADE, WHICH RESULTED IN A LOSS OF POWER. ROUGH OCEAN WATER IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/8/1990
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1116
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City MIAMI
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33316
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 1047
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID TMB
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 25
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 710
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 8 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1700
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 41597
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:50PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5778W
NTSB Number MIA90FA081
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name AEROSPATIALE
Aircraft Model 350D
Aircraft Series Identifier 350D
Aircraft Serial Number 1394
Certified Max Gross Weight 4300
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Mar 7 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 1576
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SINQUANON MANAGEMENT CO.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 10455 NW 12TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City MIAMI
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32172
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name INTERNATIONAL HELICOPTER CORP.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 14871 SW 156TH STREET
Operator City MIAMI
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33186
Operator Code CETA
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight International
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger/Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code
Departure City FISHER ISLAND
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MYCC
Destination City CAT CAY,BAHAMAS
Destination State OF
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Other
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --