Bell 206B N27UK

Summary

On 5 June 2023 at about 19:47 local time, a Bell 206B registered N27UK, operated by The Heli Team, 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

5 June 2023 at 19:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Orlando, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Orlando Executive Airport (ORL)

Coordinates

28.5412, -81.3409

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N27UK

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1975

Engines

1

Operator

The Heli Team

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA269

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s improper landing flare 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

During a test flight following a maintenance event, the pilot of the helicopter took off and navigated to a landing zone near the airport. He conducted a normal landing and hover flight without incident for about 5 minutes. The pilot then took off again, climbed to about 600 ft mean sea level, and initiated a straight-in practice autorotation. About 50 ft above ground level (agl), he started the landing flare, while “simultaneously fully rolling on throttle all the way.” As the helicopter approached 15-20 ft agl, the helicopter was level, forward momentum slowed, and “it became clear the helicopter was struggling to maintain lift and we began settling.” Subsequently, he held the controls as still as possible and attempted to maintain level attitude, however, the helicopter landed hard in the grass. The tail boom sustained substantial damage. There pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.