- Date
- August 22, 1986, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Newburyport, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N255PHBell 47J-2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860822044989A
- Case key
- 30417
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 plt experienced a total power loss of the acft eng while practicing autorotations. The helicopter landed hard, the main rotor flexed and severed the tail boom. Post accident inspection of the helicopter revealed the fuel selector was positioned on the right tank which contained no fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N255PH
- Reported as
- Bell 47J-2A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3307
- Airframe hours
- 3,800
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-B1B3, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard Hordon
- Registered owner
- Richard Hordon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- 2B2 · Plum Island
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.