- Date
- August 21, 1987, 07:36 local (11:36 UTC)
- Place
- Washington, DC
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N83080Bell 206B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 6, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 11291
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The helicopter was on a LCL photography (sight-seeing) flt. While hovering at aprx 200' abv the potomac river, the eng lost pwr. The plt initiated an autorotation & deployed the emerg floats. Subsequently, the helicopter impacted in the river & rolled ovr, but was supported (upside down) in the water by the floats. After recovery, no preimpact part fail- ure or malfunction of the airframe was fnd. However, a teardown of the eng revealed the spur adapter gearshaft (sag), pn 6890482, had failed from wear & subsequent fatigue. The failure occurred at the fwd, splined end of the sag. Debris (82% silicon) was fnd inside the oil delivery tube. The oil jets for the #2 & #3 brgs were obstructed, but the jet for sag was not obstructed. The precise nature of the conds & circumstances that led to excessive wear was not determined. The height/velocity diagram in the flt manual showed hovering flt btn 10 & 400 ft should be avoided (to allow for successful autorotative lndg in the event of a pwr loss).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83080
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 900
- Airframe hours
- 3,421
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Stuart Aviation
- Registered owner
- Advest Credit Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 22, 1987 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- DCA · Washington, DC
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Invalid Medical for flight
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,100 total · 391 in this make and model · 6,500 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DCA, 1 nm away