Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 505 N1243Y

Summary

On 11 November 2024 at about 16:50 local time, a Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 505 registered N1243Y was involved in an accident near Lago Vista, Texas, United States. 3 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

11 November 2024 at 16:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Lago Vista, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Lago Vista Tx/Rusty Allen (RYW)

Coordinates

30.4986, -97.9695

Aircraft

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 505

Registration

N1243Y

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2018

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

CEN25LA084

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor’s improper recovery from 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

While conducting an instructional flight, the flight instructor reported that he and the student pilot were practicing straight-in autorotation approaches in the helicopter with a power recovery. The helicopter was configured with a throttle control switch rather than a twistable throttle control. During the fifth autorotation approach, the flight instructor forgot to move the throttle control from “Idle” to “Fly” prior to flaring the helicopter. The helicopter descended and landed hard on the runway. During the hard landing, the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.