Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tallinn
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 10, 2005, at about 12:45 local time, a Copterline Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, registered in Finland as OH-HCI, crashed into the Baltic Sea shortly after takeoff from Tallinn, Estonia. The 2 crewmembers and 12 passengers onboard were fatally injured. The passengers were citizens from Finland, Estonia and the US.
The helicopter was destroyed by water impact. The wreckage was located in at a depth of 45 meters and at coordinates: North 59 degrees 32 minutes 546 seconds and East 24 degrees 43 minutes 852 seconds. Weather in the area of the accident was covered by the north-east part of a low pressure front. The winds were 110 degrees at 14 knots at the surface and at 1000 - 2000 feet the winds were at 130 degrees at 25 - 30 knots. The lowest cloud base was at 800 - 1400 feet. Temperature was 14 degrees Celsius and the dew point was 13 degrees Celsius.
The accident helicopter departed from Tallinn City Hall heliport at about 12:39 local time for a scheduled flight to Helsinki, Finland. The flight normally lasts 18 minutes and is about 80 kilometers in distance. The accident flight crew had already performed 5 landings at Tallinn City Hall heliport that day. The operator, at the time of the accident, operated 28 daily scheduled flights between Helsinki and Tallinn on weekdays. Shortly after takeoff, the flight had reached an altitude of 1500 feet and the flight crew began a climb to 2000 feet. The FDR data shows a change in collective position shortly before the helicopter pitches up abruptly and then rolls to the left. Witnesses saw the helicopter crash and an air traffic controller observed the helicopter disappear from radar coverage. As a result, a search and rescue operation was launched immediately.
The accident investigation is being conducted by the Government of Estonia as the state of occurrence. They have formed an Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission that is comprised of 8 individuals. There are accredited representatives from Finland, the United States (US) and France. The Safety Board sent an accredited representative and an airworthiness specialist to assist the Commission. Sikorsky and the Federal Aviation Administration also sent technical advisors. They were on-scene for over two weeks. Wreckage examination revealed that the floats had not been deployed and that the main rotor and tail rotor blades were intact until water impact. The engines were sent to the manufacturer in France for further examination. The recorders were downloaded at the recorder manufacturer in the United Kingdom. US manufactured parts that were part of the transmission and flight controls were sent to the US for examinations, testing and teardowns. As a result, Honeywell and HR Textron have been added as technical advisors to the US.
The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Estonia. A preliminary report was released in September 2005 and further information may be obtained from:
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
Taivo Kivistik
Chairman of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission
Harju 11
Tallinn, Estonia
Fax: (372) 631 3660
www.mkm.ee
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | -- |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Tallinn |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 14 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 14 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 13 2009 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | schd |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | DCA05RA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SIKORSKY |
| Aircraft Model | S-76C+ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | -- |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Tallinn |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | EN |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Tallinn |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | EN |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 13 2009 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | schd |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |