- Date
- April 13, 2002, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- New York, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N19TDBell 206-L3
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20020413017659A
- Case key
- 54519
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
The pilot's improper flare while landing, which resulted in a collision with a concrete curb.
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
After completing the approach phase of the landing, the pilot was in the process of transitioning to a hover, when he decided to reduce his airspeed by 2-3 mph by adding "a little" aft cyclic. During the application of aft cyclic, the tail of the helicopter dropped, and the tail rotor blades struck a 6-inch high cement curb block, which was located at the edge of the helipad. The helicopter touched down uneventfully, and the engine was secured. The pilot additionally stated that he was too low during the landing.
Factual narrative
On April 13, 2002, about 1100 eastern daylight time, a Bell 206-L3 helicopter, N19TD, was substantially damaged while landing at the West 30th Street Heliport, New York, New York. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the positioning flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, while he was on approach for landing, he had completed the approach phase of the landing and was in the process of transitioning to a hover, when he decided to reduce his airspeed by 2-3 mph by adding "a little" aft cyclic. During the application of aft cyclic, the tail of the helicopter dropped, and the tail rotor blades struck a 6-inch high cement curb block, which was located at the edge of the helipad. The helicopter touched down uneventfully, and the engine was secured.
The pilot additionally stated that he was too low during the landing.
Examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that about 2-inches had separated from each tail rotor blade. Damage was also observed to the tail boom, the vertical stabilizer, and both sides of the fuselage.
The recorded weather at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident, included winds from 180 degrees at 9 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N19TD
- Reported as
- Bell 206-L3
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 51216
- Airframe hours
- 5,326
- Engine
- Allison 250/C30, 650 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Helicopter Flight Services, Inc.
- Registered owner
- TTM Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Limited (Special)
- Last inspection
- AAIP · November 6, 2001
- Departed
- NJ00 · Ridgefield Park, NJ
- Destination
- JRA · New York, NY
- Airport
- JRA · West 30th ST. Heliport, runway H1, 62 × 62 ft, asphalt
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
- 37
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,654 total · 95 in this make and model · 1,453 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- LGA, 8 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 15, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 332 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.