Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West 30Th Street Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New York, New York 10001
Thursday, October 16, 2008 8:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While maneuvering over the heliport, the co-pilot flying the helicopter maneuvered it near the center of spot H2 (designated for the size of the accident make and model helicopter), which did not include a shoulder line in accordance with Advisory Circular 150/5390-2B. While making a left pedal turn, the co-pilot allowed the helicopter to hover rearward east of the center of spot H2 towards a 12 foot tall chain link fence located behind spot H2; no ground personnel were assisting. While moving forward towards the center of spot H2, the tail rotor blades contacted a portion of the fence resulting in separation of 4 to 6 inches from each tail rotor blade, and subsequent loss of directional control. The flightcrew lowered collective and the helicopter impacted hard causing collapse of the left main landing gear. No preimpact failure or malfunction was noted to any systems of the helicopter. While heliport personnel reported the yellow line is to be used for ground taxiing only, review of an advisory circular related to heliport design revealed that with respect to taxi lines, they need to be marked as such to provide minimum clearance for the largest operating helicopter the heliport is expected to receive. Inspection of the heliport by FAA personnel 1 month prior to the accident failed to detect inadequate heliport markings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the flightcrew to stabilize the helicopter over its confined landing area during a hovering left-pedal turn, resulting in tail rotor blade contact with a perimeter fence component and a subsequent loss of directional control. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate markings of the heliport and heliport spots, and failure of FAA personnel to detect the inadequate heliport markings during inspection of the heliport approximately 1 month prior to the accident.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/16/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | New York |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10001 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404516N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0740025W |
| Event Location Airport | West 30th Street Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JRA |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 751 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 79 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 21 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27286 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NY Office of Emergency Managem |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 25 2010 11:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N552J |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA020 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SIKORSKY |
| Aircraft Model | S-76C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 760518 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11700 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 11 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4506 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 601 Jack Stephan Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Trenton |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08628-3019 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 601 Jack Stephan Way |
| Operator City | West Trenton |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08628-3019 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HVN |
| Departure City | New Haven |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | JRA |
| Destination City | New York |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2010 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |