- Date
- March 19, 1987, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wassaic, NY
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N13766Bell 47G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 6, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870319021489A
- Case key
- 30490
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 bell 47G helicopter was on a aerial survey of buried telephone cable when the red main rotor blade separated from the blade grips in flight. The main rotor hub with the main rotor blade separated from the transmission and the helicopter crashed. No evidence was found to indicate that this accident involved a blade strike. Examination of the failed main rotor blade disclosed that the blade had received a blade strike some years before, was repaired and returned to service. There was a large gap near the blade grips that had been filled with epoxy. Both of these repairs were determined to not be in compliance with the bell 47 maintenance and overhaul manual.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N13766
- Reported as
- Bell 47G
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1228
- Airframe hours
- 4,395
- Engine
- Franklin 6V335-A, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- New Hartford Helicopter Sev.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · March 7, 1987 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- 7B2 · Northampton, MA
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
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,700 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.