- Date
- April 29, 1982, 11:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- New York City, NY
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N16959Bell 206L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820429015619A
- Case key
- 72003
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 flt departed the 34th street heliport on a local sightseeing flt to the statue of liberty & return. As the flt crossed lower manhattan, about 1/4 mi from the east river, the plt heard the low RPM audio signal. He lowered the collective & rotor RPM returned to the green. While turning to the east river the generator-out & eng-out lights' illuminated. The floats were inflated & the helicopter contacted the water in a level attitude. The nose then contacted the water & the chin bubble broke. Water entered the helicopter & it rolled right to an inverted position. Investigationdisclosed that the filter line between the compressor scroll & the power control unit had broken at the filter end. A visual examination of the failed pc line & the b-nut fitting disclosed that the fracture occurred at the outboardend of the ferrul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16959
- Reported as
- Bell 206L
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 46610
- Airframe hours
- 3,603
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Island Helicopter, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Island Helicopter, Inc.
- Departed
- New York City, NY
- Destination
- New York City, NY
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 24
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 1,339 total · 584 in this make and model · 963 as pilot in command · 136 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 17 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 140 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGA, 8 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.