- Date
- June 3, 1987, 11:20 local (15:20 UTC)
- Place
- So. Windsor, CT
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N2287LRobinson R22 Mariner
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 1, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870603080599A
- Case key
- 30499
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
A loss of control in flight for undetermined reasons.
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 student & flt instructor (CFI) took off on a training flt in a Robinson R22 mariner (float equipped) helicopter. Drg the return flt fm a practice area, the helicopter crashed. Bfr the acdnt, 2 witnesses heard the helicopter, but did not see it until after they heard an unusual noise. One witness said he 'heard a loud ping, like metal against metal.' At about that time, both witnesses noted an interuption in eng pwr & saw pieces coming off the helicopter as it fell to the gnd. It crashed in an inverted attitude & burned. An exam of the wreckage revealed the main rotor blades had struck the tail boom & the entire tail assembly (including stabilizers, tail rotor gear box & tail rotor) had sepd. The tail assembly fell to the gnd aprx 250' fm the main wreckage. No pre-existing mech problems or severe mast bumping were evident. The CFI had 451 hrs of flt time, all in R22 helicopters. In the prev 5 days, he had flown 2 hrs in float equipped (mariner) R22'S & had made water landings, but no instruction in the mariner or its differences was verified.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2287L
- Reported as
- Robinson R22 Mariner (R22 MARINE)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0512M
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2C, 130 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- No.East Helicopters, doing business as Northeast Air
- Registered owner
- Geoffrey D Wyler
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 13, 1987
- Departed
- Ellington, CT
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 451 total · 451 in this make and model · 401 as pilot in command · 138 in the last 90 days · 57 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °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.