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NYC83LA150 · MBB BO-105

23 Jun 1983 · Nantucket, MA, United States

MBB BO-105 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure during initial climb

From Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) to Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK)

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Event

NTSB case
NYC83LA150
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

MBB BO-105

Aircraft type
MBB BO-105
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
N2908U
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK), Nantucket, MATo Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK)
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
Initial climb
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
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Other person › Cyclic, improper
  • Pilot in command › Aircraft preflight, inadequate
  • Rotorcraft flight control, cyclic control › Jammed

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Nantucket, MA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

THE HELICOPTER MADE A HARD LANDING DURING AN ABORTED TAKEOFF FOLLOWING A MEDICAL EVACUATION DEMONSTRATION AT NANTUCKET. AFTER THE PRESENTATION THE ACFT WAS CHANGED FROM A 2 LITTER CONFIGURATION. THE PILOT NOTED THAT THE CYCLIC RETENTION CAP WAS ON THE CYCLIC STICK MOUNTING POINT BUT DID NOT KNOW WHO PUT IT THERE. THE RACK WAS THEN PUT IN PLACE AND HELD THERE BY ONE OF THE RETAINING CLIPS AND THE STRETCHER MOUNTED IN POSTION. CONTROLS WERE CHECKED FOR FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND THE FLIGHT TOOK OFF. IN THE INITIAL CLIMB, CYCLIC WAS MOVED FORWARD WITH NO PROBLEM BUT LATER IN THE CLIMB THE NOSE CONTINUED UP AND FORWARD CYCLIC WAS ATTEMPTED BUT WOULD NOT GO FORWARD OF THE POSITION IT WAS IN. THE PILOT LOWERED COLLECTIVE AND DESCENDED HITTING THE GROUND TAIL LOW. THE ACFT BOUNCED AND COLLECTIVE WAS HELD DOWN UNTIL THE ACFT TWISTED TO A STOP. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT CONTROL INTERFERENCE BY A CYCLIC STICK RETENTION KNOB, INADVERTENTLY INSTALLED, PREVENTED FORWARD CYCLIC MOVEMENT BECAUSE OF CONTACT WITH THE LEFT LITTER RACK.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC83LA150
Event ID
20001214X43510
Case number
NYC83LA150
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: 12e8009656bc07c4525879a99c8f014fe1a90c1a0aae1352a08d704a05aea7db; retrieved 2026-09-22T02:37:45.138Z.