Schweizer 269C N1675U

Summary

On 17 June 2006 at about 00:30 local time, a Schweizer 269C registered N1675U was involved in an accident near Grand Forks, North Dakota, 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

17 June 2006 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Grand Forks Intl (GFK)

Coordinates

47.9500, -97.1833

Aircraft

Schweizer 269C

Registration

N1675U

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Forks → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06CA168

Nobody was injured.

The dual student's failure to maintain rotor speed during the recovery from the intentional autorotation and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action. Contributing factors were the flight crew's intentional autorotation and dual student's misjudged flare.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter was substantially damaged when the tail rotor struck the taxiway during recovery from an intentional autorotation. The flight instructor and commercial pilot (dual student) were not injured. The flight instructor stated that the instructional flight included 180-degree autorotations, which were terminated into a hover with the addition of engine power. He reported that on the first autorotation the dual student flared high and during the recovery the rotor speed decayed requiring a landing on the taxiway. He noted that the dual student was subsequently instructed to increase engine power as collective was increased during the recovery in order to maintain rotor speed. On the second autorotation, he stated that the dual student flared lower and a "little more aggressively." He noted that as the dual student increased the collective, the rotor speed again decayed. The flight instructor stated that "as the collective continued upward the engine and rotor [speed] decreased." He "intervened on the controls and continued to increase the collective and throttle and level the aircraft, [when] the tail struck the taxiway." The flight instructor subsequently landed the helicopter after noting an airframe vibration. The flight instructor reported no malfunctions or failures prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.