MIA85FA153 · Sikorsky S-58ET
Sikorsky S-58ET · Accident: airframe, component or system failure
From Key West International Airport (EYW) to Treasure Coast International Airport (FPR)
Event
- NTSB case
- MIA85FA153
- 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
- 3 · 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
Sikorsky S-58ET
- Aircraft type
- Sikorsky S-58
- 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
- N65526
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Key West International Airport (EYW), Key West, FLTo Treasure Coast International Airport (FPR), FT. PIERCE, FL
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- Airframe, component or system failure
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, performed
- Rotorcraft flight control, swashplate assembly › Disconnected
- Rotorcraft flight control, swashplate assembly › Fatigue
Not plotted · Location withheld: coordinates are missing, conflicting, invalid, or have no accepted acquisition method. No substitute location has been invented.
NTSB narrative
THE HELICOPTER DISAPPEARED WHILE ON AN OVERWATER FLT FROM KEY WEST, FL TO FT PEIRCE, FL. ONE OCCUPANT & THE WRECKAGE OF THE HELICOPTER WERE SUBSEQUENTLY RECOVERED FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE PLT & THE OTHER OCCUPANT WERE NOT LOCATED & WERE PRESUMED DEAD. PRIOR TO DEPARTURE, 1 OF THE CREWMEMBERS WAS OVERHEARD TO SAY 'THAT DIDN'T SOUND GOOD'REFERRING TO SOME UNUSUAL SOUND AT THE TIME OF SHUT-DOWN. THE PLT TOLD A WITNESS THEY WERE HAVING MECHANICAL DIFFICULTY WHICH THEY WOULD CORRECT IN FT PIERCE. ANOTHER WITNESS HEARD THE PLT STATE TO 1 OF THE PAX THAT A CAP OR PART HAD FALLEN OFF & WAS MISSING. AN EXAM OF THE ROTATING & STATIONARY SWASHPLATES WHICH MADE UP THE STAR ASS'Y REVEALED THAT THEY HAD SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER. A METALLURGICAL EXAM REVEALED THAT 8 OF THE 12 BOLTS WHICH SECURED THE ROTATING STAR INNER RACE TO THE ASS'Y HAD FAILED IN FATIGUE; THE OTHER 4 BOLTS WERE MISSING. THERE WAS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE BELLY, TAIL CONE & PYLON.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record MIA85FA153
- Event ID
- 20001214X36255
- Case number
- MIA85FA153
- 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: c78eaaf66d25c6093cd04711127ea6c03d036ba473d9627e0c3d2ad37550e346; retrieved 2026-09-21T05:03:45.065Z.