Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
East Hampton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
East Hampton, New York 11937
Friday, November 8, 2002 23:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a flight on a moonless night, the helicopter entered a descent while approaching a shoreline from the landward side. The helicopter crossed the shoreline at an altitude of about 200 feet, then continued outbound, over the water, until radar contact was lost about 24 seconds later. The pilot's logbook was not recovered; however, records indicated that he flew 115 hours of total flight time in another helicopter, including 3 hours of night time, in preparation for his private pilot certificate, which he obtained 4 months prior to the accident. A safety pilot also flew with the accident pilot in the accident helicopter for about 10 additional hours. The accident flight was the pilot's second solo flight in the helicopter, and there was no evidence of mechanical malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude, which resulted in an in-flight collision with water. Factors included the pilot's decision to fly over water on a moonless night, his lack of experience in that environment, and the dark night lighting conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/8/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2325 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | East Hampton |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11937 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 405319N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0721610W |
| Event Location Airport | East Hampton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HTO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 15 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 56 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2356 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ISP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 99 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14935 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EASTERN REG OPS CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 9 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Farmingdale, New York |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911XW |
| NTSB Number | IAD03LA012 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Westland Helicopters |
| Aircraft Model | Gazelle AH-MK1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1230 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| 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 | Jul 14 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 9309 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William M. Smithers |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | New York |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 10280 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ISP |
| Departure City | ISLIP |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HTO |
| Destination City | EAST HAMPTON |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 7 2004 2:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |