Hughes 269B N9332F

Summary

On 1 June 1996 at about 16:48 local time, a Hughes 269B registered N9332F, operated by Erik Vandagriff, was involved in an accident near Georgetown, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 June 1996 at 16:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Georgetown, California, United States

Nearest airport

Georgetown (Q61)

Coordinates

38.9301, -120.7699

Aircraft

Hughes 269B

Registration

N9332F

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Erik Vandagriff

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Foresthill → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX96LA217

Nobody was injured.

loss of engine power for undetermined reason(s), while practicing an autorotation, which resulted in a forced landing; and the flight instructor's misjudged landing flare during the emergency autorotation/landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a dual instructional lesson, the CFI initiated a practice autorotation from 1,000 feet above ground level (agl) while in the traffic pattern. The CFI reported that as the helicopter descended through 800 feet agl, all engine power was suddenly lost and the practice maneuver turned into a forced landing. Just prior to experiencing the engine power loss, all instruments had been in the green. The CFI further stated that the helicopter touched down softly at the approach end of the runway with a forward speed between 2 and 3 miles per hour. Thereafter, the helicopter tipped forward, shook violently, and the main rotor blade contacted the airframe which resulted in substantial damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.