Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
National Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Washington, District Of Columbia 20001
Thursday, January 17, 1985 14:16 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE FLT CREW RPRTD THE ENG LOST PWR WHEN THE HELICOPTER WAS AT APRX 100' WITH A FWD SPEED OF 50 KTS. WITNESSES OBSERVED FAINT GRAY/WHITE SMOKE EMANATING FROM THE VICINITY OF THE TAILPIPE SHORTLY AFTER LIFT OFF WHICH TRAILED & BECAME PROFUSEIMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE HELICOPTER BEGAN DSCNDG. SUBSEQUENTLY THE ACFT IMPACTED THE GND IN A LEVEL, RGT YAW ATTITUDE. THE RGT MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED & FOLDED UNDER THE BELLY, THE FUEL CELLS RUPTURED & THE TAIL CONE SEPARATED FROM THE CABIN. AN EXAM REVEALED THAT A MIXTURE OF FUEL & OIL HAD VENTED OVERBOARD THRU THE FLEXIBOX SEAL DRAIN LINE. ALTHO THE ACFT HAD RECENTLY BEEN WASHED, A HVY FUEL STAIN WAS NOTED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE HELICOPTER FROM THE GANG DRAIN TO THE FENESTRON. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT FUEL & OIL HAD LEAKED FROM THE JET HOLDER WHICH TRANSFERRED FUEL FROM A LINEAR LINE TO A ROTATING LINE. HOWEVER, AN EXAM OF THE FUEL (FLEXIBOX) & OIL (SEALOL) SEALS SHOWED NO IRREGULARITIES. THE CONDITION COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED DURING BENCH TESTING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/1985 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1416 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WASHINGTON |
| Event State | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20001 |
| Event Date Year | 1985 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DCA |
| 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 | 16 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1416 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DCA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 16 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1160 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 17 1985 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 28505 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N42CP |
| NTSB Number | BFO85FA013 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AEROSPATIALE |
| Aircraft Model | SA 360C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SA 360C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1031 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6615 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 20 1984 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 2007 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PFIZER, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 7350 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST TRENTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08628 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DCA |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1415 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4N6 |
| Destination City | GARDEN CITY |
| Destination State | NY |
| 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 | -- |