Piasecki Acft HELISTAT 97-34J N1897Z

Summary

On 2 July 1986 at about 00:00 local time, a Piasecki Acft HELISTAT 97-34J registered N1897Z was involved in an accident near Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States. 5 people were on board and one died, 3 were seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

2 July 1986 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Lakehurst Naec (KNEL)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piasecki Acft HELISTAT 97-34J

Registration

N1897Z

Category

Helicopter

Engines

4

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC86FHD01

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE HELISTAT, A HYBRID A/C WITH 4 H-34 MAIN FUSELAGES ATTACHED TO A FRAME ALONG WITH A ZPG-2 HELIUM FILLED ENVELOPE HAD JUST COMPLETED IT FIRST HOVER TEST FLT SUCCESSFULLY AND LANDED. A PWR LOSS WAS NOTED ON THE NO. 3 HELICOPTER AND THE TEST WAS TERMINATED AND THE MOORING MAST CALLED FOR. PRIOR TO RE-MOORING A WIND SHIFT CAUSED AN UNCOMMANDED LEFT TURN WHICH THE PILOT COULD NOT CONTROL WITH THE FLT CONTROLS. WITH A TAILWIND, NO WHEEL BRAKES OR GND STEERING A TAKEOFF WAS ATTEMPTED. THE 4 MAIN LANDING GEAR WHICH HAD NO SHIMMY DAMPNERS STARTED TO SHIMMY. THE FOUR HELICOPTERS STARTED TO REACT TO THE SHIMMY WITH GROUND RESONANCE. AS THE HELISTAT FINALLY LIFTED OFF, THE FOUR INDIVIDUAL HELICOPTERS BROKE OFF AND FELL TO THE GROUND. ONE PILOT RECEIVED FATAL INJURIES, 3 RECEIVED SERIOUS INJURIES AND ONE MINOR INJURIES. THE HELISTAT WAS DESTROYED. THE PRW LOSS ON THE NO. 3 HELICOPTER WAS TRACED TO A MISSING THROTTLE LINKAGE CORRELATION PIN. WHY THE PIN WAS MISSING WAS NOT DETERMINED.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.