- Date
- March 8, 1990, 11:16 local (16:16 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5778WAerospatiale 350D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19900308003539A
- Case key
- 32549
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Fatigue failure of an engine turbine blade, which resulted in a loss of power. Rough ocean water in the emergency landing area was a related factor.
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 in cruise flt ovr the ocean, when the plt heard a loud noise & noted a loss of eng power. He entered an autorotation & told the psgrs to put on their life jackets. At abt 100' abv the water, he deployed the emerg floats, then successfully landed in the ocean about 3 mi from shore. After lndg, a wave hit the helicopter & it rolled ovr. The plt & psgrs got onto the belly of the helicopter, then the plt dove under the water & retrieved the ELT. However, after he activated the ELT, another wave hit & the plt dropped it as he reached to help a psgr. One psgr expired abt 8 hrs later & the otr psgr expired abt 15 hrs after the acdnt. Both died fm drowning. The acdnt occurred at abt 1115 EST; the coast guard was notified of the situation at 1530 EST. The plt was rescued at 0430 EST the next day. A subsequent exam of the eng revealed that a power turbine blade had failed from fatigue, which resulted in the loss of eng power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5778W
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale 350D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1394
- Airframe hours
- 1,576
- Engine
- Lycoming LTS-101-600A2, 615 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- International Helicopter Corp.
- Registered owner
- Sinquanon Management Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · March 7, 1990 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- Fisher Island, FL
- Destination
- MYCC · Cat Cay,Bahamas, OF
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,878 total · 808 in this make and model · 1,548 as pilot in command · 82 in the last 90 days · 32 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 20 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Observed at
- TMB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.