MIAMI, FL, USA
N5778W
AEROSPATIALE 350D
THE HELICOPTER WAS IN CRUISE FLT OVR THE OCEAN, WHEN THE PLT HEARD A LOUD NOISE & NOTED A LOSS OF ENG POWER. HE ENTERED AN AUTOROTATION & TOLD THE PSGRS TO PUT ON THEIR LIFE JACKETS. AT ABT 100' ABV THE WATER, HE DEPLOYED THE EMERG FLOATS, THEN SUCCESSFULLY LANDED IN THE OCEAN ABOUT 3 MI FROM SHORE. AFTER LNDG, A WAVE HIT THE HELICOPTER & IT ROLLED OVR. THE PLT & PSGRS GOT ONTO THE BELLY OF THE HELICOPTER, THEN THE PLT DOVE UNDER THE WATER & RETRIEVED THE ELT. HOWEVER, AFTER HE ACTIVATED THE ELT, ANOTHER WAVE HIT & THE PLT DROPPED IT AS HE REACHED TO HELP A PSGR. ONE PSGR EXPIRED ABT 8 HRS LATER & THE OTR PSGR EXPIRED ABT 15 HRS AFTER THE ACDNT. BOTH DIED FM DROWNING. THE ACDNT OCCURRED AT ABT 1115 EST; THE COAST GUARD WAS NOTIFIED OF THE SITUATION AT 1530 EST. THE PLT WAS RESCUED AT 0430 EST THE NEXT DAY. A SUBSEQUENT EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT A POWER TURBINE BLADE HAD FAILED FROM FATIGUE, WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF ENG POWER.
FATIGUE FAILURE OF AN ENGINE TURBINE BLADE, WHICH RESULTED IN A LOSS OF POWER. ROUGH OCEAN WATER IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA WAS A RELATED FACTOR.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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