# Incident 20170719014619I: Robinson Helicopter Company R44 II, Babylon, NY, July 19, 2017

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 19, 2017, 10:15 local time
- Place: Babylon, NY
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
- Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
- Operator: 2AFA
- Location: 40.6937° N, 73.3260° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Babylon, NY, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.6937&lon=-73.3260&mi=10
- Aircraft: N188DD, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N188DD-2017-12-13) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Robinson Helicopter R44 II (registry code 7640122, https://openairdocs.org/model/robinson-helicopter-r44-ii) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5 (registry code 41899, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-ae1a5) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY R44 II
- Reported engine: LYCOMING IO-540-AE1A5
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 1,953 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20170719014619I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

HELICOPTER IN CRUISE --14OOFT AGL@110KTS WHEN PIC AND PAX HEARD LOUD BANG AND NOTED NOTICEABLE CHANGE IN ENGINE SOUND.  RPM IMMEDIATELY BECAME ERRATIC AND ENGINE RPM EXCEEDED ROTOR RPM.  PIC ATTEMPTED TO MANAGE RPM BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AND AS ROTOR RPM BEGAN TO DECAY HE ENTERED AUTOROTATION.

FLOATS WERE DEPLOYED AND A SUCCESSFUL WATER LANDING WAS MADE.  ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING AFTER LANDING AND PIC SHUT ENGINE DOWN AND EVACUATED AIRCRAFT.  THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND AIRCRAFT DAMAGE APPEARED MINIMAL.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.