- Date
- August 14, 1983, 18:42 local (22:42 UTC)
- Place
- New York, NY
- Injuries
- 4 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8479UAerospatiale SA-360C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830814048189A
- Case key
- 35072
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
While on final apch to a heliport, the helicopter was at aprx 70 KTS & 100 ft AGL when the plt applied power to begin decelerating. As collective pitch was applied, he heard a series of banging noises which he described as similar to compress stalls. Simultaneously, he noted a decay of the eng power. The plt changed his course to minimize the distance to the landing area & raised the nose to further decelerate for a vertical descent. However, during touchdown, the tailwheel strut fairing hit a barrier at the edge of the heliport, separating the vertical stabilizer & fenestron. The separated component traveled upward & struck the main rotor blades. Reportedly, the low RPM warning horn sounded just before the compressor stall. Corrective action for a low RPM warning horn in this situation should have been to reduce the power demand by lowering the collective and/or reducing right pedal application. An eng check revealed it was capable of exceeding the max required torque, but it had slight fouling of the fuel injector wheel & compressor air flow
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8479U
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale SA-360C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1023
- Airframe hours
- 2,777
- Engine
- Turbomeca AST. XVIIIA, 871 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Island Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · July 21, 1983 · 43 hours before
- Departed
- LGA · Flushing, NY
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- 6N5 · East 34th St. Heli., runway 1, 304 × 100 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
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,450 total · 315 in this make and model · 4,250 as pilot in command · 155 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGA, 4 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.