# Incident 20161021024959I: Enstrom Helicopter Corp 280C, Long Beach, CA, October 21, 2016

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 21, 2016, 14:55 local time
- Place: Long Beach, CA
- Airport: Long Beach /Daugherty Field/
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.7670° N, 118.1892° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Long Beach, CA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.7670&lon=-118.1892&mi=10
- Aircraft: N9285, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N9285) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Enstrom Helicopter 280C (registry code 3300505, https://openairdocs.org/model/enstrom-helicopter-280c) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming HI0-360 series (registry code 41553, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-hi0-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: ENSTROM HELICOPTER CORP 280C
- Reported engine: LYCOMING HI0-360 SER
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 274 total, 172 in this make and model, 11 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20161021024959I

## Narrative

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

ON OCTOBER 21, 2016, AT ABOUT 1455 PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME (PDT) A ENSTROM MODEL 280C, U.S. REGISTRATION NUMBER N9285 SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE IN THE FORM OF A TAIL ROTOR STRIKE WHILE PRACTICING A STRAIGHT-IN AUTOROTATION

ON PAD 3, AT LONG BEACH AIRPORT (KLGB) IN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. THE PILOT IN COMMAND (PIC) WAS THE SOLE OCCUPANT ON BOARD THE HELICOPTER AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. THERE WERE NO REPORTED INJURIES TO THE PIC AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. THE FLIGHT WAS OPERATED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF TITLE 14 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 91.  VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED.

IN THE STATEMENT PROVIDED BY ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ HE STATES THAT ON FINAL APPROACH HE ENTERED INTO AN AUTOROTATION FROM 500 FEET AT APPROXIMATELY 80 MILES PER HOUR (MPH). HE THEN ESTABLISHED A 60-65 MPH DESCENT.  HE FURTHER STATES THE GLIDE ANGLE LOOKED ?GOOD? AND HE ?AIMED FOR ?THE THREE ON PAD THREE?.  AT APPROXIMATELY 60 FEET ABOVE THE PAD HE BEGAN HIS FLARE, PULLING BACK ON THE CYCLIC TO ARREST HIS DESCENT AND REDUCE AIRSPEED.  AS THE HELICOPTER APPROACHED THE GROUND HE PULLED BACK ON THE CYCLIC TO FURTHER REDUCE HIS AIRSPEED PRIOR TO EXECUTING A POWER RECOVERY.  ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ THEN STATES THE HELICOPTER ?SETTLED MORE THAN ANTICIPATED?.  HE THEN HEARD A ?LOUD NOISE FROM THE REAR OF THE HELICOPTER?.  HE IMMEDIATELY LEVELED THE HELICOPTER AND ENTERED A HOVER.  AT THIS TIME THE HELICOPTER BEGAN ROTATING TO THE RIGHT.  HE THEN LANDED THE HELICOPTER 180 DEGREES FROM THE DIRECTION OF HIS INITIAL TRAVEL. HE SUBSEQUENTLY SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE AND LOOKED AFT TOWARDS THE TAIL OF THE HELICOPTER AND NOTED THE DAMAGE TO THE TAIL ROTOR. IT APPEARS THE HELICOPTER SUSTAINED DAMAGE TO THE TAIL ROTOR BLADES ONLY.

WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION INDICATED WINDS WERE FROM 200 DEGREES AT 8 KNOTS; VISIBILITY 10 STATUTE MILES AND SKIES WERE REPORTED TO BE CLEAR.  TEMPERATURE WAS 28 DEGREES C; DEW POINT MINUS 2.2 DEGREES C; AND ALTIMETER SETTING AT 29.83 INCHES OF MERCURY. RUNWAY CONDITIONS WERE DRY.

## Other reports on N9285 (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20210821022239A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20210821022239A), Aug 21, 2021: Enstrom Helicopter Corp 280C (N9285), Port Orange, FL, Substantial damage. On August 21, 2021, about 1330 eastern daylight time, an Enstrom 280C, N9285, was substantially damaged from a accident in daytona beach, Florida. The Pilot…

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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