Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lacey Township, New Jersey 08754
Tuesady, October 10, 1989 13:29 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AS THE HELICOPTER WAS IN CRUISE FLT AT AN ALT OF 2200' MSL, A PORTION OF ONE OF THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES SEPARATED. THE SUBSEQUENT IMBALANCE RESULTED IN SEPARATION OF THE TRANSMISSION & MAIN ROTOR ASSEMBLY FROM THE HELICOPTER. THE HELICOPTER THEN CRASHED IN AN UNCONTROLLED DESCENT. A METALLURGICAL EXAM OF THE SEPARATED BLADE REVEALED THAT IT HAD FAILED FROM FATIGUE. THE FRACTURE HAD INITIATED AT A MANUFACTURING INDUCED SCRATCH IN THE SPAR OF THE BLADE. THE SCRATCH WAS ON THE INNER SURFACE OF THE SPAR AT BLADE STATION 2825 (IN MILLIMETERS), NEAR THE LEAD BALANCE WT. IT WAS IN LINE WITH THE EDGE OF THE ADHESIVE FILET. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE CRACK ORIGINATED WHERE A SHARP TOOL WAS USED TO TRIM THE EDGE OF THE ADHESIVE FILET. THE BLADE FRACTURED AFTER 922 HRS OF OPERATION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IN-FLIGHT SEPARATION OF A MAIN ROTOR BLADE DUE TO FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE MAIN ROTOR BLADE SPAR, WHICH ORIGINATED AT A MANUFACTURING INDUCED SCRATCH (TOOL MARK) THAT WAS THE RESULT OF INADEQUATE QUALITY CONTROL.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/10/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1329 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LACEY TOWNSHIP |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08754 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1355 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 65 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2272 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 10 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42177 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N21FL |
| NTSB Number | NYC90MA009 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AGUSTA |
| Aircraft Model | A109A MKII |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A109A MKII |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7309 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5730 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 3 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 911 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FSQ AIR CHARTER CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 410 EAST 62ND ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW YORK CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 10021 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PARAMOUNT AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 425 BEAVER BROOK RD. |
| Operator City | LINCOLN PARK |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 07035 |
| Operator Code | DAGA |
| 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 | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 6N4 |
| Departure City | NEW YORK CITY |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1302 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ACY |
| Destination City | ATLANTIC CITY |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | -- |