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NYC89FA106 · Sikorsky S-76A

27 Mar 1989 · Manhattan, NY, United States

Sikorsky S-76A and Executive Air Fleet Sikorsky S-76A · Accident: on ground/water collision with object during landing

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Event

NTSB case
NYC89FA106
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Sikorsky S-76A

Aircraft type
Sikorsky S-76
Category
Helicopter
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N760P
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Armonk, NYTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Landing · flare/touchdown
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
On ground/water collision with object
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Aircraft 2 · Sikorsky S-76A

Aircraft type
Sikorsky S-76
Category
Helicopter
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N586C
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Teterboro Airport (TEB), TETERBORO, NJTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Standing · idling rotors
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
On ground/water collision with object
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Clearance, misjudged
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Clearance, misjudged

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES OF 2 SIKORSKY S-76A HELICOPTERS MADE CTC AT THE WALL STREET HELIPORT/PARKING BARGE, AS ONE (N586C)WAS PARKED IN SPOT 11 WITH THE ROTORS TURNING & THE OTHER (N760P) LNDD IN SPOT 12. THE PLTS OF N586C HAD LNDD 7 MINEARLIER & WERE WAITING FOR PAX. THE UNICOM OPERATOR SAID THAT AS N760P WAS ARRIVING, HE TOLD THE PLTS THERE WAS ANOTHERHELICOPTER 'TURNING ON SPOT 11 & TO PARK ALONG SIDE THEM AT THEIR DISCRETION.' AN INV REVEALED THE BARGE HAD 12 PARKINGSPOTS. THE PADS AT SPOTS 4, 5 & 6 WERE DESIGNATED FOR S-76 HELICOPTERS & MEASURED 57'. THE OTHER PARKING SPOTS WERE FORBELL 222'S & WERE 45' APART. THE MAIN ROTOR SPAN OF AN S-76 WAS 44'. N586C WAS PARKED ABT 4' LEFT OF SPOT 11'S CENTER-LINE. AS N760P LNDD IN THE CENTER OF SPOT 12 (LEFT OF SPOT 11), THE ROTOR BLADES INTERMESHED. NEITHER CREW WAS ADZD THATSPOTS 4, 5 & 6 WERE FOR LARGER (S-76) HELICOPTERS. EXISTING FAA ADVISORIES FOR HELIPORTS DID NOT PROVIDE FOR MARKINGSTO INDICATE THE MAXIMUM ROTOR DIAMETER ACCEPTABLE FOR DESIGNATED PARKING AREAS.

Probable cause

THE PILOT MISJUDGED CLEARANCE BETWEEN HIS AND THE OTHER HELICOPTER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: INADEQUATE LAYOUT (MARKINGS) OF THE HELIPORT PARKING AREA, INSUFFICIENT STANDARD/REQUIREMENT FOR NUMERICAL INDICATION OF MAXIMUM ROTOR DIAMETER ACCOMMODATIONS AT HELICOPTER PARKING FACILITIES, FAILURE OF THE UNICOM OPERATOR TO ADVISE THE PILOTS OF PARKING SPOTS THAT WERE DESIGNATED FOR LARGER (S-76) HELICOPTERS, AND PROXIMITY OF THE OTHER HELICOPTER.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC89FA106
Event ID
20001213X27982
Case number
NYC89FA106
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 7121e5b103eb21c2000a261df8794ab9bb48ad4f20279b44c28e1f09633e185d; retrieved 2026-09-23T07:46:22.275Z.