NYPD Chopper Down at Floyd Bennett Field

[Matt Molnar]

An NYPD helicopter plopped into the water near Floyd Bennett Field this afternoon according to some of the firebuffs on Twitter. Sounds like everyone is okay, but I'm guessing the chopper might not be. Will post more info as it comes in...

[Matt Molnar]

Chopper is upright in Jamaica Bay about 50 feet from shore, according to FDNY.

[Derf]

they should scramble the rescue cho......oh, sorry


I had to do it!

[Matt Molnar]

Reports that it was an emergency landing, floats were deployed, no injuries.

[adscram14]

At least nobody was hurt in the incident. I wonder what the problem with the chopper was, though...

[Derf]

At least nobody was hurt in the incident.......

I agree

[cancidas]

was it a 119 or a 412? hope it wasn't one of the new bells!!

[Matt Molnar]

It was N412PD...some reports indicating that it ran out of fuel but no confirmation yet.


http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/09/23/alg_chopper.jpg
Daily News photo

[cancidas]

It was N412PD...some reports indicating that it ran out of fuel but no confirmation yet.


http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/09/23/alg_chopper.jpg
Daily News photo

damn... well that's what floats are for! electronics underneath are prob gone but the rest of the ship ought to be ok.

[emshighway]

If they ran out of fuel there will be a position open in the Aviation Unit and a cop walking a very lonely foot post.

[Gerard]

If they ran out of fuel there will be a position open in the Aviation Unit and a cop walking a very lonely foot post.

LOL I was thinking the same thing. And that copter is brand spanking new. As of 6:05 I saw on Eyewitness News it was still sitting in the water by the back of AU base.

[Gerard]

Heres another shot. Looks like one of the rotors snapped and hit the windshield.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/NYPD-Helicopter-Crashes-into-Jamaica-Bay-103559974.html

And this after an Air-sea drill recently.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/14/2010-09-14_nypds_elite_emergency_services_unit_does_grueli ng_drill_to_prep_for_airsea_rescu.html?obref=obins ite

[cancidas]

Heres another shot. Looks like one of the rotors snapped and hit the windshield.

the rotor most likely hit the water when the pilot set it down. http://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/600*450/air-sea.JPG

[Gerard]

Detective Erin Nolan was the pilot. Detective Jimmy Varga co-pilot.
Erin is the first female NYPD pilot qualified to to command the Air-Sea Rescue Bell 412.
Found this great article about her from the Wall Street Journal. The crew was in good hands.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703674704575234220104616034.html

[hiss srq]

Wow, just saw it in the paper this morning. I've been mostly off the aviation grid for the week. Good to know all are well.

[Matt Molnar]

The crew was in good hands.
Unless of course it was her fault...just sayin'. :-)

[mirrodie]

Its on the radio. Chopper is new, about a year old.

[Gerard]

Unless of course it was her fault...just sayin'. :-)

I'm hearing (well reading) that it could have been a main driveshaft failure!! There have been a number of 412 accidents lately with this being the cause,some fatal. I thought
the FAA had issued an Airworthiness Directive concerning that.
Wonder where the "ran out of fuel" rumor started? Cos they were returning to Base to refuel? Highly unlikely. A more likely scenario is that they knew they would be airborne for an
extended time on Presidential detail duty and being close to Base they figured they could do a quick hot fuel and load up before they needed to be on station.
Thankfully the only thing lost was the helicopter.

[DHG750R]

I searched for an AD for the 412, I found this one. Could this be it?


SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the specified Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. (Bell) model helicopters. This action requires reidentifying a certain part-numbered main rotor yoke (yoke) based on whether it was ever installed on a Model 412CF helicopter or on a Model 412 or 412EP helicopter with a slope landing kit. This AD also requires reducing the retirement life of the reidentified yokes from 5,000 hours time-in-service (TIS) to 4,500 hours TIS. Also, this AD requires recording the reidentified yoke part number (P/N) and the reduced retirement life on the component history card or equivalent record. This amendment is prompted by fatigue analysis that shows that the retirement life should be reduced on certain yokes. The actions specified in this AD are intended to prevent fatigue cracking of a yoke, failure of a yoke, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

[cancidas]

I searched for an AD for the 412, I found this one. Could this be it?

this bird was just under a year old, so it would be AD compliant coming from th factory.

[Gerard]

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20100923X80619&key=1