Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spring Valley Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spring Valley, New York 10977
Wednesday, February 22, 1989 11:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PIC & AN FAA EXAMINER (F/E) WERE ON A PART 135 CHECK FLT. ABT 900' TO 1000' AGL, THE F/E INITIATED AN AUTOROTATION (A/R) WITH INTENTIONS OF A PWR RECOVERY, ALTHO NO PROCEDURE FOR PERFORMING PWR RECOVERY FM AN A/R WAS PUBLISHED IN THE FLT MANUAL (F/M). HE INITIATED THE A/R BY MOVG THE FUEL FLOW CONTROL/POWER LEVER (FFC) OUT OF THE FULL FWD (PWR LOCKED) PSN. AT ABT 400' AGL & 65 KTS, THE FFC WAS PSND BACK TO THE FULL FWD (DETENT) PSN. AT ABT 65' AGL, THE PIC INITIATED A FLARE WITH COLLECTIVE PITCH CTL, BUT THE ENG LACKED RESPONSE. THE PIC CONTD THE A/R TO TOUCHDOWN ON SOFT TRRN. DRG THE LNDG, THE TAIL ROTOR STRUCK A MOUND OF DIRT, BOTH TAIL ROTOR BLADES SEPD, THEN THE HELICOPTER ROLLED ON ITS RGT SIDE & CAME TO REST. INV REVEALED THE GOVERNOR ANTICIPATOR WOULD NOT HAVE ACTIVATED UNTIL COLLECTIVE PITCH WAS APPLIED & THE ENG COULD TAKE UP TO 9 SEC TO SPOOL UP. F/M ADDRESSED ONLY FULL STOP (A/R) LNDGS. MANUAL FOR AEROSPATIALE INSTRUCTORS RESTRICTED PWR RCVRY TO 200' AGL. NO MECH STOP WAS PROVIDED TO KEEP THE ENG FM GOING BLO 50% DRG PWR RDCN FOR A/R.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE FAA FLIGHT EXAMINER (F/E) TO FOLLOW PROPER PROCEDURES CONCERNING THE AUTOROTATION, AND IMPROPER REMEDIAL ACTION BY THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PIC). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: LACK OF INFORMATION IN THE FLIGHT MANUAL CONCERNING AUTOROTATIONS, THE FLIGHT EXAMINER'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE AIRCRAFT, AND THE SOFT TERRAIN AND MOUND OF DIRT (DIRT BANK) IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/22/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1140 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SPRING VALLEY |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10977 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SPRING VALLEY HELIPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N-2Y |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| 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 | 1700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1542 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 22 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39883 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5793P |
| NTSB Number | NYC89FA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AEROSPATIALE |
| Aircraft Model | AS-350D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS-350D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1476 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 8 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 57 |
| Airframe Hours | 2161 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J. FLETCHER CREAMER & SON INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 101 EAST BROADWAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | HACKENSACK |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07601 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | JFXA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KTEB |
| Departure City | TETERBORO |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1058 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |