20220219002209I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Bell 47G-4A · Titusville, FL · February 19, 2022

Date: February 19, 2022 · 13:00 local
Place: Titusville, FL
Phase of flight: Hover/Holding
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N1342X
Reported as: Bell 47G-4A
Reported engine: Lycoming VO-540 series
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor, private pilot, student
Pilot’s flight hours: 531 total6 in this make and model83 in the last 90 days

N1342XRegistered now · Bell 47G-4AS/N 7531 · Built 1965 Airframe modelBell 47G-4A Engine modelLycoming VO-540 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot was with a student who had about 100 hours in helicopters. They were practicing a circling approach and student was directed to hover over the landing area, but instead was setting it down. Realizing the decent rate was to fast and the mis-communication between the instructor and the student , instructor took over the controls, but the tail rotor struck a traffic cone, causing the tail rotor to stop and helicopter to have a hard landing. They immediately shut down, acessed the damage to the tail rotor assembly and notified the NTSB.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT WAS WITH A STUDENT WHO HAD ABOUT 100 HOURS IN HELICOPTERS. THEY WERE PRACTICING A CIRCLING APPROACH AND STUDENT WAS DIRECTED TO HOVER OVER THE LANDING AREA, BUT INSTEAD WAS SETTING IT DOWN. REALIZING THE DECENT RATE WAS TO FAST AND THE MIS-COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE INSTRUCTOR AND THE STUDENT , INSTRUCTOR TOOK OVER THE CONTROLS, BUT THE TAIL ROTOR STRUCK A TRAFFIC CONE, CAUSING THE TAIL ROTOR TO STOP AND HELICOPTER TO HAVE A HARD LANDING. THEY IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN, ACESSED THE DAMAGE TO THE TAIL ROTOR ASSEMBLY AND NOTIFIED THE NTSB.