Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Northeast Philadelphia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19114
Sunday, June 8, 2008 17:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the Bell 206L-4 helicopter had completed a simulated engine failure, and was bringing the helicopter to a hover over a grass area, when it impacted the ground from an altitude of approximately 5 feet. The helicopter's tail boom, aft of its attach point was wrinkled, and the tail boom sagged. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical problems with the helicopter. He reported 2,029 hours of total flight experience, which included 1,929 hours in rotorcraft, all in the same make and model as the accident helicopter. Winds reported at the airport, about the time of the accident, were variable at 7 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during hover, which resulted in an inadvertent impact with the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Philadelphia |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19114 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400455N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0750038W |
| Event Location Airport | Northeast Philadelphia |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PNE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PNE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24149 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 11 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N94PD |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA210 |
| 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-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 52205 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4450 |
| 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 | May 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6380 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Philadelphia Police Department |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Philadelphia |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19114 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PNE |
| Departure City | Philadelphia |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PNE |
| Destination City | Philadelphia |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 27 2008 2:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |