S76 Accident in New Jersey
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 320
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From: Off the Planet
S76 Accident in New Jersey
Are there any lessons that can be learnt from this accident?
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NTSB Identification: IAD05LA135
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, September 13, 2005 in Linden, NJ
Aircraft: Sikorsky S-76B, registration: N14CS
Injuries: 1 Serious, 2 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On September 13, 2005, about 1245 eastern daylight time, a standing Sikorsky S-76B, N14CS, operated by ExcelAire Service Inc., was undamaged when a lineman was struck by its turning main rotor at Linden Airport (LDJ), Linden, New Jersey. The lineman was seriously injured, and the certificated airline transport pilot and certificated commercial co-pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight, destined for Westchester County Airport (HPN), White Plains, New York.
The pilot and co-pilot each submitted written statements, which both contained similar information.
The helicopter was taxied to the fixed fuel pump for service, and engine power was reduced to idle. The lineman then arrived, and retrieved the aircraft grounding cable, and began pulling it toward the helicopter, approaching from about the 11 o'clock position, as viewed by the pilot. As he proceeded toward the helicopter, the lineman was bent down and was looking at the grounding cable attachment clip. He then suddenly stood upright, was struck by the helicopter's rotor, and knocked to the ground. The crew then shut down the helicopter's engines, stopped the rotor blade, and called for emergency assistance.
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rating for rotorcraft-helicopter. He received his most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first class medical certificate on June 7, 2005. On that date he reported 8,000 total hours of civil flight experience and 550 total hours of military flight experience.
The co-pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with numerous ratings including rotorcraft-helicopter and instrument helicopter. He received his most recent FAA first class medical certificate on June 7, 2005, and reported 980 total hours of flight experience on that date.
Examination of records from the entity that employed the lineman revealed that he applied for the position of line technician on August 11, 2005. In the blank on the application labeled "Do you have special skills, experience or qualifications related to the position applied for," the lineman wrote "military experience for 8yrs [on] carriers and naval air stations."
The weather reported at Newark International Airport (EWR), Newark, New Jersey, about 5 nautical miles northeast, included winds from 190 degrees at 9 knots, 7 statute miles visibility, and few clouds at 4,500 feet.
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NTSB Identification: IAD05LA135
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, September 13, 2005 in Linden, NJ
Aircraft: Sikorsky S-76B, registration: N14CS
Injuries: 1 Serious, 2 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On September 13, 2005, about 1245 eastern daylight time, a standing Sikorsky S-76B, N14CS, operated by ExcelAire Service Inc., was undamaged when a lineman was struck by its turning main rotor at Linden Airport (LDJ), Linden, New Jersey. The lineman was seriously injured, and the certificated airline transport pilot and certificated commercial co-pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight, destined for Westchester County Airport (HPN), White Plains, New York.
The pilot and co-pilot each submitted written statements, which both contained similar information.
The helicopter was taxied to the fixed fuel pump for service, and engine power was reduced to idle. The lineman then arrived, and retrieved the aircraft grounding cable, and began pulling it toward the helicopter, approaching from about the 11 o'clock position, as viewed by the pilot. As he proceeded toward the helicopter, the lineman was bent down and was looking at the grounding cable attachment clip. He then suddenly stood upright, was struck by the helicopter's rotor, and knocked to the ground. The crew then shut down the helicopter's engines, stopped the rotor blade, and called for emergency assistance.
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rating for rotorcraft-helicopter. He received his most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first class medical certificate on June 7, 2005. On that date he reported 8,000 total hours of civil flight experience and 550 total hours of military flight experience.
The co-pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with numerous ratings including rotorcraft-helicopter and instrument helicopter. He received his most recent FAA first class medical certificate on June 7, 2005, and reported 980 total hours of flight experience on that date.
Examination of records from the entity that employed the lineman revealed that he applied for the position of line technician on August 11, 2005. In the blank on the application labeled "Do you have special skills, experience or qualifications related to the position applied for," the lineman wrote "military experience for 8yrs [on] carriers and naval air stations."
The weather reported at Newark International Airport (EWR), Newark, New Jersey, about 5 nautical miles northeast, included winds from 190 degrees at 9 knots, 7 statute miles visibility, and few clouds at 4,500 feet.
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,833
Likes: 2
From: Sale, Australia
Certainly an unfortunate event, but not the first for the 76 and fatalities have resulted in the past. I always tried to impress on guys new to the 76 that while the disk can get low there is really little excuse (unless it has not been brought to your attention of course) for such an accident. The disk can be positioned so that not even Jordan on his best day on the court could commit suicide (well almost). A case of paying attention (by pilots) when people are around a running aircraft. The most experienced aviation practitioners have been done in by props, rotors etc
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 768
Likes: 45
From: Montreal
Let's see if I can count out a few reasons to this not to happen....Better pilot training. Everyone I've worked for flying an S76 always emphasized getting the disk up out of harms way when running on the ground. No reason to leave it low like that when just parked and idling. Some of the S76 had a kit installed with a warning light and audio warning if the cyclic was too far forward. Seems like a reasonable expense to install on a ship used for corporate work. There is also the option of stopping the blades if you have a manual rotor brake. What else? Turning off the autopilots when on the ground so that the servos don't inadvertently drive the disk down (I think this happened with a Bell 222 on with the same result as this). OK, I'm out of fingers.
