Hughes 369D N690WA

Summary

On 20 February 2024 at about 19:15 local time, a Hughes 369D registered N690WA, operated by Windward Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Hana, Hawaii, 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

20 February 2024 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Hana, Hawaii, United States

Coordinates

20.6712, -156.0587

Aircraft

Hughes 369D

Registration

N690WA

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Windward Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kahului → Kahului

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC24LA016

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to ensure the passenger’s gear was properly secured before departure.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after landing at a remote landing zone (LZ) to pick up a single passenger, the passenger loaded their gear in the aft right seat and secured it with a seatbelt. While enroute, the two occupants heard a “loud and violent bang” and the nose of the helicopter moved to the right and vibrations followed. The pilot looked back at the tail rotor, saw it was spinning freely, and confirmed the tail rotor drive train had failed. The pilot performed an autorotation to an open field. A post flight inspection revealed that the passenger’s rain pants were missing from the aft right seat. It was determined that the rain pants had exited the helicopter and impacted the tail rotor resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, tail boom, horizontal stabilizer and tail rotor assembly and gearbox. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.