Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marathon, Florida 33050
Thursday, November 2, 1989 21:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER WAS ON A NIGHT LAW ENFORCEMENT MISSION OVR THE OCEAN NR MARATHON, FL. AFTER TKOF, THE PIC NOTED THE RADARALTIMETER NEEDLE, WHICH ACTIVATED THE LOW ALT WARNING, WAS NOT FUNCTIONAL, THOUGH THE DIGITAL DISPLAY & COPLT'S RADAR ALTIMETER WERE OPERATING NORMALLY. AFTER ENTERING THE MISSION AREA, THE PIC BGN RANDOM MNVRS WITH THE ALT VARYING BTN 200 & 300 FT ABV THE WATER. THERE WAS AN ESTD 1000 FT OVC SKY COND WITH NO VISIBLE HRZN. BOTH PLTS WERE WEARING NIGHT VISION GOGGLES. THE COPLT OPERATED THE SEARCH LIGHT & WAS TO MONITOR THE INSTS. WHILE MNVRG TO KEEP A BOAT IN VIEW, THE HELICOPTER BGN DSCNDG & CONTACTED THE WATER. IMMEDIATELY, THE CABIN FILLED WITH WATER. ALL OF THE OCCUPANTS EGRESSED SUCCESSFULLY FM THE HELICOPTER, EXCEPT THE COPLT, WHO PRESUMABLY DROWNED. THE PIC & 2 OF THE OTR CREWMEMBERS WERE NOT INJURED; THE REMAINING 2 RCVD MINOR INJURIES. AN AGENCY OPNS HANDBOOK DISCUSSED HAZARDS/INCIDENTS, BUT NO MISSION RISK ASSESSMENT PROGRAM WAS IN PLACE FOR MANAGEMENT TO ADEQUATELY IDENTIFY THE LEVEL OF RISK ASSOCIATED WITH THE OPN.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN THE PROPER ALTITUDE OVER THE OCEAN WATER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE HELICOPTER WITH A KNOWN PARTIAL DEFICIENCY OF THE RADIO ALTIMETER/WARNING SYSTEM, DARKNESS, THE PILOT'S LACK OF VISUAL PERCEPTION, FAILURE OF THE COPILOT TO ADEQUATELY MONITOR THE HELICOPTER'S ALTITUDE ABOVE THE WATER, AND INSUFFICIENT MANAGEMENT STANDARDS TO IDENTIFY INORDINATE FLIGHT RISKS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/2/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | MARATHON |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33050 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2364 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 3 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 915 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42903 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23576 |
| NTSB Number | ATL90GA023 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SIKORSKY |
| Aircraft Model | SK-70 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SK-70 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 81-23576 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 20250 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 24 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2016 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | U.S. STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | BUILDING 240 |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOMESTEAD AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33039 |
| 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 | |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HST |
| Departure City | HOMESTEAD AFB |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | HST |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |