Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wall Street Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New York, New York 10005
Tuesady, June 14, 2005 13:38 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter landed at the heliport with approximately 220 lbs. of fuel on board. At that time, the helicopter was oriented to north, with a light westerly wind. The helicopter was on the ground for 2 to 3 minutes while ground personnel boarded passengers for a sightseeing flight. The helicopter lifted up to a hover and initially turned left 90 degrees toward west, but the wind was from the northeast at approximately 5 knots. When the pilot realized the wind was from the other direction, he then turned right about 270 degrees. The pilot initiated a southeasterly takeoff run, oriented about a 160-degree heading. During the approximate 275-foot takeoff run, the skids contacted the ground at least once as the pilot attempted to increase forward speed. The pilot felt like the helicopter did not have full power during the takeoff run; however, the pilot and passengers did not recall any cockpit warnings or anomalies. The helicopter did not gain altitude as it neared the end of the heliport, and the tailrotor struck the edge of the pier as the helicopter descended towards the water. The helicopter subsequently impacted the water and rolled inverted. Examination of the helicopter did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. The pilot did not ask passengers their weight, and did not have a scale at the heliport. Rather, he estimated the weight and balance. For the accident flight, he estimated 150 lbs. per person, as there were three male passengers, and three female passengers. However, the average weight of the passengers was approximately 188 lbs. The weight of the occupants and the weight of the fuel revealed that the helicopter was about 222 lbs. overweight at the time of the accident; not including the weight of clothing, personal effects, and baggage. In addition to being over the maximum gross weight, the helicopter was at or beyond its performance limits for the environmental conditions, and the takeoff was attempted with a light left crosswind or quartering tailwind.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in an attempted takeoff with an overweight helicopter, and subsequent impact with a pier and water. Factors were a high ambient temperature and unfavorable winds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/14/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1338 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | New York |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10005 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404204N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0740033W |
| Event Location Airport | Wall Street Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JRB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1351 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NYC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 158 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.64 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 6 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 7 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19407 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 14 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2006 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Farmingdale, NY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N78TD |
| NTSB Number | NYC05FA099 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45090 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4000 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 17140 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Helicopter Professionals Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bay Shore |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11706 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Helicopter Flight Services, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Teterboro |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07608 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | JRB |
| Departure City | New York |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1338 |
| 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 | Takeoff - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 13 2006 4:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |