Bell 206L-1 N60WJ

Summary

On 25 April 1998 at about 19:30 local time, a Bell 206L-1 registered N60WJ was involved in an accident near Orlando, Florida, 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

25 April 1998 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Orlando, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Orlando Executive (ORL)

Coordinates

28.5608, -81.3505

Aircraft

Bell 206L-1

Registration

N60WJ

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA98LA148

Nobody was injured.

failure of the flight crew to maintain main rotor RPM during a landing touchdown, which resulted in the main rotor blades contacting the tailboom.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot flew for 1 hour 35 minutes in the airport area. During the flight, they performed training maneuvers, touchdown autorotations, hovering autorotations, and simulated tail rotor malfunctions. After returning to the ramp after the flight, company maintenance personnel found damage consistent with the main rotor blades contacting the tailboom. The CFI and student stated they did not know when the damage occurred and that they did not feel any vibration to suggest damage during the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.