Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 429 N920PD

Summary

On 13 December 2021 at about 21:10 local time, a Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 429 registered N920PD, operated by New York City Police Department, was involved in an accident near Manhattan, New York, United States. 2 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

13 December 2021 at 21:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Manhattan, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Downtown Manhattan/Wall St (JRB)

Coordinates

40.7012, -74.0090

Aircraft

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 429

Registration

N920PD

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2014

Engines

2

Operator

New York City Police Department

Operating rule

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Brooklyn → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22LA091

Nobody was injured.

The pilots overapplication of flight controls during landing, which resulted in the rotor blades contacting the wire strike protection system and subsequent hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during landing and once established directly over the helipad, he proceeded to hover taxi over to the assigned landing location, but during touchdown the helicopter unexpectedly shifted forward, rotating onto the front skids, then began to oscillate. The crew heard a loud “bang” and subsequently the helicopter became airborne briefly before settling down hard on the pavement and the helicopter started to go into ground resonance, becoming uncontrollable. The pilot reported that the helipad was congested with several other aircraft on the ground and two preparing to land, so when the helicopter became uncontrollable, he “dumped” the collective and rolled back the throttle. During the oscillations, the main rotor blades stuck the wire strike protection system, which resulted in substantial damage to the rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.