ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 37295
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Date: | Monday 23 September 1991 |
Time: | 21:00 |
Type: | Robinson R22 |
Owner/operator: | Coastline Helicopters |
Registration: | N950CW |
MSN: | 1637 |
Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
Total airframe hrs: | 890 hours |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | Atlantic Ocean, off Point Judith, Rhode Island -
United States of America
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Private |
Departure airport: | Block Island, Rhode Island (BID/KBID) |
Destination airport: | Republic Airport, Farmingdale, New York (FRG/KFRG) |
Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:According to a contemporary press report (Albany Times Union December 9, 1991):
"MINEOLA - A piece of a missing helicopter that was carrying an off-duty Long Island police officer on a training flight in late September has been found, authorities said Sunday. The 12-foot-long tail section was found Saturday by a fishing trawler off of Block Island, about 15 miles from Montauk, said Nassau County Police Sgt. Ronald DePrima.
The chopper carrying 29-year-old officer Stephen Sullivan, was last seen on Sept. 23, when he rented a helicopter for practice to get his pilot's license. The Coast Guard at Judith Point, R.I., received a radio call from the ship Ocean State at 10:55 a.m. Saturday.
The owner of the boat found the green-and-white section of fuselage 2 miles southwest of Block Island in about 49 feet of water. Officials at the Judith Point section say numbers on the tail section matched the ones on the helicopter that was reported missing. Sullivan, an officer in Nassau's sixth precinct, had rented the helicopter at Republic Airport in Farmingdale and was planning to fly to Cape Cod via Block Island when he vanished at about 8 p.m."
A few months after the tail section was located, the police dept. was able to dive and locate the rest of the helicopter. The helicopter was found severely damaged and empty. According to the official NTSB Report into the accident (see link #1)
THE PILOT DEPARTED BLOCK ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND, ON A DARK NIGHT AND WAS REPORTED MISSING WHEN HE DID NOT ARRIVE AT FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK. A SEARCH WAS INITIATED, BUT THE PILOT AND HELICOPTER WERE NOT FOUND. THE TAIL SECTION OF THE HELICOPTER WAS RECOVERED BY THE COAST GUARD ON DECEMBER, 8, 1991. THE PILOT HAD APPROXIMATELY 100 HOURS TOTAL FLIGHT TIME.
CAUSE: THE PILOT BECOME DISORIENTED AND LOST CONTROL OF THE HELICOPTER. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS A DARK NIGHT, FLIGHT OVER WATER, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF TOTAL FLIGHT EXPERIENCE.
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: NYC91LA254 at
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X18184&key=1&queryId=e59cd76d-7b76-4a21-a7b0-48e1984d8709&pgno=3&pgsize=100 2. FAA:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=950CW 3.
http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=36730 4. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://newyorkstatemissingpersons.ning.com/forum/topics/stephen-sullivan-farmingdale-new-york-september-23-1991?xg_source=activity]
5.
http://alb.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5584596 6.
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/case_report_html/12344 Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
24-Oct-2008 10:30 |
ASN archive |
Added |
20-Sep-2016 17:43 |
Dr.John Smith |
Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
20-Sep-2016 17:45 |
Dr.John Smith |
Updated [Time, Narrative] |
21-Dec-2016 19:23 |
ASN Update Bot |
Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
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