Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brigham & Women's Hospital Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Saturday, December 4, 2010 9:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the air ambulance flight, the helicopter was on final approach to land when smoke and flames were observed emanating from the suction control mounted on the left side of the cabin. The fire was subsequently extinguished, and the pilot landed the helicopter without further incident. Postincident examination revealed fire damage on the face of an overhead medical cabinet that was part of a medical interior installed about 7.5 years prior to the incident per a supplemental type certificate. A sheathed wiring bundle for a 120-volt alternating current power outlet mounted in the aft end of the cabinet displayed chafing damage and arcing consistent with rubbing on the metal housing for the vacuum control switch. The wiring was installed without adequate clearance or support to prevent it from chafing on the switch housing. The helicopter was maintained under an approved inspection program; however, review of the instructions for continued airworthiness associated with the medical cabinet installation did not reveal any required inspections of the associated wiring harnesses for general condition or chafing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper installation of wiring associated with a medical cabinet interior, which resulted in chafing and a subsequent in-flight fire. Contributing to the incident was inadequate maintenance procedures for continued airworthiness.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/4/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Boston |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02115 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422010N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0710621W |
| Event Location Airport | Brigham & Women's Hospital |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MA39 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 200 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 854 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BOS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.66 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29352 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Era Med LLC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2011 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N271NE |
| NTSB Number | ERA11IA091 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH |
| Aircraft Model | MBB-BK 117 C-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7543 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7385 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 254 |
| Airframe Hours | 4959 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BEDFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01730 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ERA Med LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Coatesville |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19320 |
| Operator Code | 7FKA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Oak Bluffs |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 826 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MA39 |
| Destination City | Boston |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2011 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | Medical Emergency |