Atlas / NTSB / MIA80FLD93

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event MIA80FLD93

1980-08-27 TITUSVILLE, Florida, United States Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N31611

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

SIKORSKY S-55B

Year of manufacture

1956 · 24 years old at event

TCDS

1H4 · CALIFORNIA HELICOPTER AIRWAYS INC

Engine

WRIGHT C7BA SERIES (800 hp)

Seats / Engines

12 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19730607

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A35FB0

Registrant of record

SIERRA AERONAUTICS LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N31611 Sikorsky S-55B Minor

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

SIKORSKY S-55B · N31611

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Balloon

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

DE

Operator type

Part 135 (air taxi/commuter)

Kind of flying

CB

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Aircraft history

Serial number

0000056-4255

Total time

4,507 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial

Total hours

2,200

Age

34

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

UND LOOSE IN CLUTCH ASSY HOUSING.

Investigator remarks

DISPENSING VALTHOME.RETAINER RING,P/N 5108-87,FO

Cause factors

68/C/D0 C
PERSONNEL IMPROPER MAINTENANCE (MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL) Cause
78/C/BJ C
ROTORCRAFT CLUTCH ASSEMBLY Cause
88/C/AV C
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS LOOSE,PART/FITTING Cause
88/K/88 K
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS AIRCRAFT CAME TO REST IN WATER Joint factor

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 2434. Source file NTSB_1980_3_2434.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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