Hughes 369D N50AP

Summary

On 29 April 2001 at about 23:00 local time, a Hughes 369D registered N50AP was involved in an accident near Taylorsville, Kentucky, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 April 2001 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Taylorsville, Kentucky, United States

Coordinates

38.0307, -85.3403

Aircraft

Hughes 369D

Registration

N50AP

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Louisville → Taylorsville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD01TA051

2 people had minor injuries.

the flight instructor's inadequate aircraft control during a practice autorotation which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and commercial pilot were practicing autorotations. On the fourth maneuver, the flight instructor was demonstrating an autorotation that would terminate with a full touchdown. The flight instructor reported that he began the maneuver at 800 feet agl, and initiated the deceleration about 50 feet agl. About 10-15 feet agl, he leveled the helicopter and began the descent to touchdown. When collective was to be applied, the pilot felt a forward pressure on the cyclic, and a tendency for the helicopter to nose down. He reacted by centering the cyclic. When the collective reached 50 percent of travel, the pilot realized that the rate of descent was greater than normal. He applied more collective and advanced the throttle in an attempt minimize the rate of descent, but landed hard in a tail low attitude. The accident was videotaped by a witness. Review of the videotape revealed that the helicopter appeared to stop its descent about 20-25 feet agl and assume a tail low attitude. The helicopter descended, landed on the tailskid, then the aft portion of the main landing gear skids. When the tailskid contacted the ground, the tail boom fractured. The tail assembly was then struck by a main rotor blade, and the helicopter rocked forward on the main landing gear skids, and the left strut failed. Examination of the helicopter revealed there were no mechanical deficiencies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.