Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Albany, New York 12208
Thursday, December 26, 2002 14:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was positioned on the hospital rooftop helipad facing in a southerly direction. After the medical crew boarded the helicopter, the number 1 engine was started. As the main rotor blades began to turn, an unexpected gust of wind traveling over the rooftop caused the blades to flap excessively. The pilot then heard a series of thumps, and aborted the start. Inspection of the helicopter revealed that one of the main rotor blades had come in contact with the left vertical stabilizer, damaging the tail boom, main rotor blades, and the left vertical stabilizer. On November 30, 1990, the helicopter manufacturer issued service bulletin SB-MBB-BK-30-103, which called for a triangle section to be cut out of the stabilizer fin assembly, in an area where a potential strike from a main rotor blade could occur, and replaced with a foam core insert. The operator did not apply the service bulletin to the accident helicopter. The winds reported by the pilot at the time of the engine start were from 340 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 24 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadvertent encounter with a downdraft during engine start, which flexed the main rotor blades and subsequently damaged the tail boom assembly. A factor related to the accident was the failure of the operator to comply with a service bulletin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/26/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Albany |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12208 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423906N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0734643W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 500 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 285 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 26 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15749 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 27 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-01 Albany, NY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N951AM |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA033 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MBB |
| Aircraft Model | BK 117 A-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7071 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8975 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 20 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 6498 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rocky Mountain Holdings |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Provo |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84601 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NK64 |
| Departure City | Albany |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1440 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Standing - starting engine(s) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2004 12:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | Medical Emergency |