ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 166018
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| Date: | Sunday 4 May 2014 |
| Time: | 17:40 |
| Type: |  MBB BK 117A-4 |
| Owner/operator: | Mercy Flight Inc |
| Registration: | N504TJ |
| MSN: | 7138 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1971 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 11735 hours |
| Engine model: | Honeywell LTS-101-650B1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Baseball field in Boston, NY -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Buffalo, NY (7NK9) |
| Olean, NY (5NK4) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot reported that, during a repositioning flight of the emergency medical services helicopter and while at cruise altitude, the flight nurse notified him and the paramedic that the left cabin door had partially opened. As the flight nurse and paramedic were attempting to close the door, it dislodged from the lower track assembly, pivoted up, and struck the main rotor system; the door subsequently separated from the helicopter. The pilot then initiated a forced landing to a field.
Examination of the door assembly revealed that both of the lower door’s bracket guides and the aft lower catcher and guide assemblies were worn and that the door’s upper sliders were worn down to their minimum tolerances. The Airplane Maintenance Manual states that, if one of the two sliders does not meet the minimum tolerance, “both sliders must be replaced with new ones.” A review of the maintenance logbook revealed that the door assembly had been inspected 127 hours before the accident in accordance with an alert service bulletin but that no anomalies with the door assembly were noted at that time.
Probable Cause: Wear in the left cabin door assembly parts, which resulted in the door partially opening in flight, dislodging from the lower door track assembly, and then separating from the helicopter.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=504TJ
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 9 August 2007 | N171MU | Omniflight Helicopters Inc. | 0 | Ridgeville, South Carolina | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-May-2014 23:27 | Geno | Added |
| 30-Oct-2014 17:43 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 29-Nov-2017 14:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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