# NTSB NYC06CA009: Sikorsky S-76B, N76UT, New York City, NY, October 12, 2005 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: October 11, 2005, 21:45 local (Oct 12, 2005, 01:45 UTC) - Place: New York City, NY - Coordinates: 40.754444, -74.006942 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.7544&lon=-74.0069&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 30, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 62660 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=NYC06CA009 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/62660/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC06CA009 ## Probable cause The pilot flying's failure to maintain adequate aft hover clearance from a fence, and the pilot in command's delayed remedial action. A factor was the dark night lighting conditions. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with object, hover - in ground effect - became lost/disoriented, copilot/second pilot (cause) - remedial action - delayed, pilot in command (cause) - object - fence ## Analysis After night refueling at a riverside heliport, the helicopter was being repositioned to another spot to await passengers. The pilot in command was in the left seat, and the pilot flying was in the right seat. The pilot flying lifted the helicopter into a hover, facing west, toward the river. The pilot in command cleared the area left and right, and the pilot flying moved the helicopter slowly to the right. As the helicopter passed a helipad that jutted into the river, the pilot in command had difficulty judging "how far forward or back we were" since there were "no lateral position lines painted on the helipad deck to judge...position." As a sea wall came into view, he realized that the helicopter was drifting backwards, and stated "don't come back any further." Immediately afterwards, he felt a vibration, then took over the controls and landed the helicopter. A postflight inspection revealed that the tail rotor had impacted a fence. The pilot flying reported environmental conditions as "dark, drizzling rain, northerly winds 8-10 knots, [and an] unusually high water level of the...river." ## Factual narrative According to the pilot in command, after night refueling at a riverside heliport, the helicopter was being repositioned to another spot to await passengers. The pilot in command was in the left seat, and the pilot flying was in the right seat. The pilot flying lifted the helicopter into a hover, facing west, toward the river. The pilot in command cleared the area left and right, and the pilot flying moved the helicopter slowly to the right. As the helicopter passed a helipad that jutted into the river, the pilot in command had difficulty judging "how far forward or back we were" since there were "no lateral position lines painted on the helipad deck to judge...position." As a sea wall came into view, he realized that the helicopter was drifting backwards, and stated "don't come back any further." Immediately afterwards, he felt a vibration, then took over the controls and landed the helicopter. A postflight inspection revealed that the tail rotor had impacted a fence. The pilot flying reported environmental conditions as "dark, drizzling rain, northerly winds 8-10 knots, [and an] unusually high water level of the...river." ## Aircraft - Registration: N76UT (not matched to a registry record) - Reported make and model: Sikorsky S-76B - Category: Helicopter - Serial number: 760443 - Engines: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6 turbo shaft - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Positioning, Part 91 - Registered owner: United Technologies - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Transport - Departed: JRA, New York City, NY - Flight plan: Unknown ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 59; injuries: none; airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: helicopter, airplane; medical: class 1; flight hours: 12,850 total, 2,320 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night/dark - Observed at: lga ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20051011033649A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20051011033649A), Oct 11, 2005: Skrsky S76B, New York, NY, Substantial damage. (-23) On October 11, 2005, a Sikorsky rotorcraft, SK-76-B, N76UT, registered to united technologies corporation, was observed drifted during hover and struck a… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- 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.