Sikorsky S-76B N5AZ
6 June 1986 · Sutton, Massachusetts, United States · Fatal
Summary
On 6 June 1986 at about 13:00 local time, a Sikorsky S-76B registered N5AZ, operated by United Technologies, was involved in an accident near Sutton, Massachusetts, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.
The record
- Date
- at 13:00
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Sutton, Massachusetts, United States
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
- Aircraft
- Sikorsky S-76B
- Registration
- N5AZ
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- United Technologies
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Business
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Bedford → Stratford
- Aircraft damage
- Destroyed
- Weather
- IMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- NYC86MA148
People
4 people died.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.
Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.
Read the full NTSB narrative
ABOUT 16 MIN AFTER TAKEOFF, WHILE CRUISING AT 6000' MSL IN IMC, THE PLT TRANSMITTED 'SIKORSKY 507' (CALL SIGN OF ACFT HEFREQUENTLY FLEW). THE ATC CTLR WAS TALKING TO ANOTHER FLT & DID NOT RESPOND. ABOUT 1 MIN LATER, RDO & RADAR CONTACT WERELOST & THE HELICOPTER CRASHED WHILE IN A STEEP/HI SPD DSCNT. AN INV SHOWED THAT DRG IMPACT, IT WAS IN A 10 DEG NOSE UP, 12 DEG RGT BANK ATTITUDE. WITNESSES, WHO HEARD THE HELICOPTER, RPRTD THE ENGS WERE RUNNING AT HI PWR BFR IMPACT. THEY DESCRIBED THE WX AS LOW OVERCAST WITH RAIN, FOG & POOR VIS. RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT JUST BFR ENTERING A DSCNT, THE HELI- COPTER WAS ON A SW HDG AT 138 KTS, WHEN ITS HDG & SPD BGN TO VARY. IT SLOWED TO 116 KTS, TURNED LEFT TO 229 DEG, THEN ENTERED A RGT DSCNDG SPIRAL & CRASHED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FND. PREV DISCREPANCIES NOTED OF N5AZ'SELEC FLT INSTRUMENT SYS (EFIS) ON 5/5/86 & 5/27/86; CAUSE OF 1ST WAS NOT FND; 2ND WAS RELATED TO A POPPED CKT BRKR. NO KNOWN EFIS PRBLM ON ACDNT FLT, BUT ACFT WAS BADLY DMGD. PLT HAD 1525 HRS IN S-76A, ONLY 30 HRS IN S-76B (WITH EFIS).
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Sikorsky S-76B accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun 1994 | Sikorsky S-76B | Newport, Rhode Island, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 12 Dec 1996 | Sikorsky S-76B | Omeath Ireland, Ireland | Norbrook Laboratories | Fatal | 1 |
| 20 Dec 1997 | Sikorsky S-76B | North Sea, Netherlands | - | Unknown | - |
| 5 Jul 2001 | Sikorsky S-76B | P'ohang, Republic Of Korea | Dae-Woo Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. | Fatal | 8 |
| 13 Sep 2005 | Sikorsky S-76B | Linden, New Jersey, United States | ExcelAire Service Inc. | Serious injuries | - |
| 12 Oct 2005 | Sikorsky S-76B | New York City, New York, United States | - | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 May 1986 | Bell 206B | Noman's Land, Massachusetts, United States | - | Fatal | 3 |
| 11 Sep 1986 | Cessna U206F | Holoyoke, Massachusetts, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 3 Oct 1986 | Piper PA-28-140 | Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States | Gerald C. White | Fatal | 3 |
| 10 Dec 1986 | Beechcraft 100 | Windsor, Massachusetts, United States | - | Fatal | 6 |
| 30 Oct 1986 | Piper PA-31-325 | Mansfield, Massachusetts, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 21 Jun 1986 | Steen Skybolt UNK | Beverly, Massachusetts, United States | James E. Fitzgerald | No injuries | - |