NTSB CAROL · Event
Event NYC88LA170
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE HELICOPTER DEPARTED RUNWAY 10 AT PLUM ISLAND AIRPORT, TURNED LEFT OVER THE PLUM ISLAND RIVER AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE ENGINE QUIT. THE PILOT STATED THAT NO WARNING WAS NOTED AND A CHECK OF THE INSTRUMENTS INDICATED NO PROBLEMS. HE FURTHER STATED THAT THE ENGINE MADE NO UNUSUAL NOISES. THE HELICOPTER WAS AUTOROTATED INTO WATER. THE OCCUPANTS WERE RESCUED BY A PRIVATE CITIZEN. EXAMINATION OF THE HELICOPTER AFTER THE ACCIDENT REVEALED NOTHING THAT WOULD HAVE CAUSED THE ENGINE TO FAIL. WITNESSES NOTED NO GASOLINE IN OR ON THE WATER. EXAMINATION OF THE ACFT LATER SHOWED ABOUT 1 GAL OF FUEL IN THE RT TANK AND AN UNDETERMINED AMOUNT OF FUEL AND SALT WATER IN THE LEFT TANK. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1988_NYC88LA170.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.