# Accident 20050606012719A: Hughes TH55, Paintsville, KY, June 6, 2005

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: June 6, 2005, 18:00 local time
- Place: Paintsville, KY
- Airport: Prestonburg-Combs Field Airport
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Other Ground Ops
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.7408° N, 82.7739° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.7408&lon=-82.7739&mi=10
- Aircraft: N2KX, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N2KX-2017-09-07) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Hughes TH-55 (registry code 4471002, https://openairdocs.org/model/hughes-th-55) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming HIO-360 series (registry code 41524, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-hio-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: HUGHES TH55
- Reported engine: LYC HIO360B1A
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,200 total, 130 in this make and model, 10 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD05LA075](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD05LA075) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050606012719A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) ON 06/06/2005 AT APPROXIMATELY 18:00 HOURS ON THE RAMP AT COMBS AIRPORT (3I6), AIRCRAFT N2KX, A HUGHES 269A, WENT IN GROUND RESONANCE DURING RUN UP, CAUSING THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES TO STRIKE THE TAILBOOM, SEVERING THE TAILBOOM AND TAIL ROTOR GEARBOX FROM THE AIRFRAME, HELICOPTER SETTLED ON LEFT SIDE AND SUFFERED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. PILOT HAD MINOR INJURY. PILOT STATED: "I DID A PREFLIGHT AND NORMAL RUNUP, WHEN COLLECTIVE WAS PULLED UP I FELT A SMALL JERK TO THE SIDE, I CONTINUED TO PULL COLLECTIVE UP AND AIRCRAFT WOULD NOT HOVER, IT THEN WENT INTO GROUND RESONANCE. I WENT TO THE DOCTOR TO CONFIRM NO INJURIES OTHER THAN A SMALL CUT TO THE CHIN AND SOME SORENESS IN MY BACK. I WAS NOT HOSPITALIZED OR INJURED." PILOT FURTHER STATED: AIRCRAFT DID NOT LEAVE GROUND. EYEWITNESS AT SCENE STANDING 50 FEET IN FRONT OF HELICOPTER, STATED THE FOLLOWING: ^PRIVACY ^ (THE PILOT OF HELICOPTER AT TIME OF ACCIDENT) WAS CHECKING THE HELICOPTER. EVERYTHING LOOKED NORMAL UNTIL TRYING TO HOVER." THE HELICOPTER WOULD NOT HOVER. IT CUT THE TAILBOOM OFF AND CONTINUED TO DESTROY THE HELICOPTER."

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB IAD05LA075](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD05LA075), Jun 6, 2005: Hughes TH-55 (N2KX), Paintsville, KY, destroyed. Probable cause: the pilot's inadvertent encounter with ground resonance which resulted in destruction of the helicopter.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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