Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
E34Th Strett Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New York, New York
Friday, April 26, 1985 14:23 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AT LAGUARDIA ARPT, WND WAS FM 320 DEG AT 16 GSTG 22 KTS. PIC RPRTD WND AT HELIPORT (ON WEST BANK OF EAST RVR) WAS FM SW.OBSTACLES WERE LOCATED ALONG WEST EDGE OF HELIPORT. PIC RPRTD HE MADE PWR CHECK, THEN BGN ROLLING TAKEOFF WITH RGT QTRG HDWND. AS ACFT WAS CLIMBING (APRX 5' AGL) OVR EAST EDGE OF HELIPORT, PIC NOTED A 'POPPING' SOUND, LOSS OF ENG PWR & MAINROTOR RPM, RISE IN EGT. ACFT BGN SETTLING & PLT TRIED DEPLOYING EMERG FLOATS, BUT DIDN'T HAVE TIME. ACFT IMPACTED WATER,ROLLED OVR & SANK. ONE PAX DID NOT EGRESS & DROWNED WITH HIS SEAT BELT STILL FASTENED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE ENG HAD ERROSION OF 1ST STAGE COMPRESSOR BLADES, CONTAMINATION ON BLADES/COMPRESSOR HOUSING & A LOW FUEL FLOW ADJUSTMENT OF THE FUEL CONTROL UNIT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF ENG SURGE/COMPRESSOR STALL. DENSITY ALT WAS 1600'. FOUR OF 5 PAX RPRTD THEYDID NOT RECEIVE INTRUCTION ON FLOATATION DEVICES/SEAT BELTS & THEY WERE NOT SHOWN THE BRIEFING CARDS. AEROSPATIALE SVC BULLETIN FOR IMPROVED TYPE 343 SEAT BELT BUCKLES (TO PREVENT BLOCKAGE OR FAILURE TO UNLOCK) WAS NOT COMPLIED WITH.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/26/1985 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1423 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | NEW YORK |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1985 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | E34TH STRETT HELIPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6N5 |
| 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 | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1952 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 22 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2931 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 26 1985 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 31667 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N49505 |
| NTSB Number | DCA85AA020 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AEROSPATIALE |
| Aircraft Model | SA360C DAUPHIN |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SA360C DAU |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1006 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 30 1985 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 85 |
| Airframe Hours | 4051 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NEW YORK HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | NORTH AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | GARDEN CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11530 |
| 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 | 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JFK |
| Destination City | NEW YORK |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| 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 | -- |