Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 429 N917PD

Summary

On 1 September 2016 at about 17:00 local time, a Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 429 registered N917PD, operated by New York City Police Department, was involved in an accident near Rikers Island, New York, United States. 6 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 September 2016 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Rikers Island, New York, United States

Coordinates

40.7864, -73.8786

Aircraft

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 429

Registration

N917PD

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2013

Engines

2

Operator

New York City Police Department

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

New York → Rikers Island

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16CA313

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s overcontrolling of the helicopter during an aborted slope landing from a hover, which resulted in a main rotor blade strike.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was landing the helicopter on a nose-up slope when he "noticed the helicopter started to tilt aft." As the pilot "immediately" increased collective pitch and applied forward cyclic to abort the landing, three of the four main rotor blades struck the wire strike protection system on the cabin roof, which resulted in substantial damage to the blades. Representatives from the helicopter manufacturer examined the helicopter, replaced the three damaged rotor blades, and then returned the helicopter to service. According to the pilot, there were no mechanical deficiencies with the helicopter that would have prevented normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.