- Date
- April 27, 1986, 11:27 local (16:27 UTC)
- Place
- Ridgefield Park, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N60PBEnstrom F-28C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860427014059A
- Case key
- 30327
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
A weight imbalance, then a split needle, caused the plt to abort 2 previous attempts to depart. Conditions were corrected & the helicopter departed the waterfront helipad. As it went over the water, the plt noted a loss of eng power. He tried to return to the helipad, but the rotor RPM continued to decay & the helicopter settled into the water & sank. The plt & passenger escaped without injury.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N60PB
- Reported as
- Enstrom F-28C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 337
- Airframe hours
- 2,224
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-E1AB, 205 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Turbine Helicopters Leasing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- Ambrose, NJ
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
- 23
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 101 total · 56 in this make and model · 66 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 7 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.