- Date
- May 13, 1990, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Marathon, FL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N9056Enstrom F-28A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900513018339A
- Case key
- 32654
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
Failure of the input drive gear of the tail rotor gear box for undetermined reasons because the drive gear was not recovered from the ocean.
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 sightseeing helicopters had just taken off and was about 50 ft in the air when tail rotor drive and control was lost. The pilot executed a power on forced landing to the ocean the tail rotor gear box failed at the casting around the input drive gear and there were signs of logjamming on the interior of the casting. The drive gear was not recovered from the ocean.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9056
- Reported as
- Enstrom F-28A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 167
- Airframe hours
- 834
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 205 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- All Air Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 10, 1990 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- Marathon, FL
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
- 62
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,300 total · 1,597 in this make and model · 2,174 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MTH, 2 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.