Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Harriman-And-West Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Adams, Massachusetts 01247
Wednesday, November 15, 1989 14:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLTS WERE MAKING APCHS TO THE ARPT, WHEN THE HELICOPTER'S MAIN ROTOR BLADES HIT THE TAIL BOOM & THE TAIL ROTOR SEPD. THE HELICOPTER THEN WENT OUT OF CONTROL & IMPACTED ON SLOPING TERRAIN NEAR THE APCH END OF RWY 11. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENG WAS FOUND DURING THE INVESTIGATION. THE PLT-IN-COMMAND (PIC) HAD A COMMERCIAL CERTIFICATE WITH AIRPLANE SINGLE/MULTI-ENG LAND & INSTRUMENT RATINGS, BUT HE HELD ONLY A PRIVATE CERTIFICATE FOR ROTORCRAFT/HELICOPTERS. ON THE ACDNT FLT, HE OCCUPIED THE RGT PLT SEAT, WHILE THE OTHER PLT WAS IN THE LEFT SEAT. THIS HELICOPTER IS NORMALLY FLOWN FROM THE LEFT SEAT. THE LEFT SEAT OCCUPANT HAD AN ATP CERTIFICATE FOR MULTI-ENG LAND AIRPLANES & WAS GETTING READY FOR A CHECK FLT TO OBTAIN A PRIVATE ROTORCRAFT RATING. MANUFACTURING PSNL AT MCDONNELL DOUGLAS RPRTD THAT THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES WOULD NOT STRIKE THE TAIL BOOM, IF THE ROTOR RPM WAS ABOVE 90%. APRX 28 WEST AT ALBANY, THE 1550 EST WIND WAS FROM 160 DEG AT 16 GUSTING 23 KTS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PIC) TO ASSURE PROPER ROTOR RPM AND PROPER OPERATION OF THE FLIGHT CONTROLS DURING AN APPROACH IN GUSTY WIND CONDITIONS. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE PIC'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE OF OPERATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/15/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | NORTH ADAMS |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01247 |
| 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 | HARRIMAN-AND-WEST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2B6 |
| 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 | 654 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1550 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 285 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1911 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 15 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1615 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41041 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9208F |
| NTSB Number | NYC90FA029 |
| 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 | HUGHES |
| Aircraft Model | 369HS |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369HS |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8406285 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 54 |
| Airframe Hours | 1344 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KING SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 838 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TROY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12180 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | KING SERVICES INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 838 |
| Operator City | TROY |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 12180 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OWD |
| Departure City | NORWOOD |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1333 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | TROY |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 11 |
| Runway Length | 4300 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |