Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

New York, New York 10024
Sunday, June 30, 2013 11:55 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On June 30, 2013, about 1155 eastern daylight time, a Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4, N405MR, operated by New York City Helicopter Charter, Inc., incurred minor damage after an engine failure and subsequent forced landing to the Hudson River in New York, New York. The commercial pilot and four passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which departed Downtown Manhattan/Wall Street Heliport (JRB), New York, New York, about 10 minutes earlier. The local sightseeing flight was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. According to the pilot, he had flown seven previous segments that day in the incident helicopter, with most of those under 20 minutes and the last segment being a trip to JRB after obtaining fuel in New Jersey. After landing at JRB, the pilot met the four passengers and provided them a safety briefing. The helicopter subsequently took off and headed northbound along a standard company tour route. Approaching the 79th Street Boat Basin, at 1,500 feet, the pilot heard a “bang” and a passenger asked if the helicopter had hit a bird. The pilot answered no, then heard the “Engine Out” warning and saw that the N2 [power turbine] indication was dropping. The pilot decided to perform an autorotation, and just prior to lowering the collective and rolling the throttle to flight idle, he saw the “Engine Chip” light illuminate. The pilot advised the passengers that they were “going down” and transmitted a Mayday call to LaGuardia Tower. During the flare, the pilot deployed the skid-mounted floats and bled off all forward airspeed. Following impact, the chin bubbles broke and water rushed into the cabin. Once the helicopter came to rest, the pilot verified that all of the passengers were safe, confirmed same with LaGuardia Tower, secured all switches and circuit breakers, and helped the passengers to board a boat before boarding another one himself for the trip to shore. According to the responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the turbine section of the Rolls Royce 250-C30P engine had been recently overhauled, and the engine was returned to service with about 2 hours of operation prior to the incident. The inspector also stated that following the incident, the helicopter was transported to JRB, where an initial examination was performed. He further noted that with power applied from the battery, the Engine Chip light illuminated. In addition, the starter would not rotate the engine, the compressor section was difficult to turn by hand, the turbine section rotated freely, and the chip detector was caked with carbon and small metal specks. Fuel samples taken at the helicopter’s last refueling stop were also found to be clear, free of water and "within specifications.” The engine was subsequently removed from the helicopter and transported to the overhaul facility where it was further examined under NTSB oversight. During the examination, in the compressor section, the engine number 2 bearing was found to be damaged, and appeared dry with evidence of high temperatures. The corresponding races also appeared dry with evidence of high temperatures. The forward side of the bearing cage exhibited significantly more damage than the aft side, with the forward side bearing cage deformed and the bearing balls on that side appearing rough, with large areas of material loss. To confirm oil flow, the engine gearbox was attached to an oil supply and the engine oil pump was rotated by means of a hand drill. Three of the four jets from the oil supply tube (piccolo tube) produced streams of oil; however, the fourth, which normally supplied oil to the aft face of the number 2 bearing, did not. The piccolo tube, number 2 bearing and several associated parts were retained for further examination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 6/30/2013
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1155
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City New York
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 10024
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 404706N
Event Location Longitude 0735917W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
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 1151 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID LGA
Elevation of weather observation facility 21
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3400
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2300
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source FAA Eastern ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2013 10:19AM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N405MR
NTSB Number ERA13IA313
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA
Aircraft Model 206L-4
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 52391
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 5
Number of Engines 1
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 NEW YORK HELICOPTER CHARTER INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address DOWNTOWN HELIPORT PIER 6 E RIVER
Aircraft Owner City NEW YORK CITY
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10004
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name NEW YORK HELICOPTER CHARTER INC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
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 --
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 No
Departure Airport Code JRB
Departure City New York
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code JRB
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 Jul 16 2013 10:19AM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --