Date: May 16, 1977 Type: Sikorsky S-61L Registration: N619PA Operator: New York Airways, Inc. Where: Pan Am Building Heliport, New York, New York Report No. NTSB-AAR-77-9 Report Date: October 13, 1977 Pages: 32 About 1735 e.d.t., on May 16, 1977, the right landing gear of a New York Airways, Inc., Sikorsky 5-61L, N619PA, failed while the aircraft was parked, with rotors turning, on the rooftop heliport of the Pan Am Building in New York, New York. The aircraf t rolled over on its right side and was substantially damaged. At the time of the accident four passengers had boarded the aircraft and other passengers were in the process of boarding. The passengers and the three crewmembers onboard received either minor or no injuries; however, four passengers who were still outside the aircraft and were waiting to board were killed and one was seriously injured. One pedestrian on the corner of Medison Avenue and 43rd Street was killed and another was seriously injured when they were struck by a separated portion of one of the main rotor blades of the aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the fatigue failure of the upper right forward fitting of the right main landing gear tube assembly. Fatigue originated from a small surface pit of undetermined source. All fatalities were caused by the operating rotor blades as a result of the collapse of the landing gear.