Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Washington, District Of Columbia 20024
Friday, August 21, 1987 7:36 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER WAS ON A LCL PHOTOGRAPHY (SIGHT-SEEING) FLT. WHILE HOVERING AT APRX 200' ABV THE POTOMAC RIVER, THE ENG LOST PWR. THE PLT INITIATED AN AUTOROTATION & DEPLOYED THE EMERG FLOATS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER IMPACTED IN THE RIVER & ROLLED OVR, BUT WAS SUPPORTED (UPSIDE DOWN) IN THE WATER BY THE FLOATS. AFTER RECOVERY, NO PREIMPACT PART FAIL- URE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE AIRFRAME WAS FND. HOWEVER, A TEARDOWN OF THE ENG REVEALED THE SPUR ADAPTER GEARSHAFT (SAG), PN 6890482, HAD FAILED FROM WEAR & SUBSEQUENT FATIGUE. THE FAILURE OCCURRED AT THE FWD, SPLINED END OF THE SAG. DEBRIS (82% SILICON) WAS FND INSIDE THE OIL DELIVERY TUBE. THE OIL JETS FOR THE #2 & #3 BRGS WERE OBSTRUCTED, BUT THE JET FOR SAG WAS NOT OBSTRUCTED. THE PRECISE NATURE OF THE CONDS & CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED TO EXCESSIVE WEAR WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE HEIGHT/VELOCITY DIAGRAM IN THE FLT MANUAL SHOWED HOVERING FLT BTN 10 & 400 FT SHOULD BE AVOIDED (TO ALLOW FOR SUCCESSFUL AUTOROTATIVE LNDG IN THE EVENT OF A PWR LOSS).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 736 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | WASHINGTON |
| Event State | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20024 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 745 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DCA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 15 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2226 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 21 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 750 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 35786 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 2:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N83080 |
| NTSB Number | BFO87FA057 |
| 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 | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 900 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 22 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 3421 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ADVEST CREDIT CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 280 TRUMBELL ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | HARTFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06103 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | STUART AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | NATIONAL AIRPORT |
| Operator City | WASHINGTON |
| Operator State | DC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 20013 |
| Operator Code | |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DCA |
| Departure City | WASHINGTON |
| Departure State | DC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 710 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 22 2001 3:51PM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |