- Date
- August 25, 1985, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Elizabethtown, KY
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9280FHughes 269C
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850825041339A
- Case key
- 6863
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After takeoff from off airport landing zone, the acft encountered heavy raninshowers and the plt attempted to return to the landing zone. Visibility was such that the plt was unable to see the ground and the tailrotor contacted a lake adjacent to the landing zone. The helicopter reportedly then sank in the lake.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9280F
- Reported as
- Hughes 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 540305
- Airframe hours
- 6,887
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-DIA, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 16, 1985 · 15 hours before
- Destination
- LOU · Louisville, KY
- Airport
- Freeman Pk
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 27
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,835 total · 1,707 in this make and model · 1,682 as pilot in command · 57 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 270° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- FTK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N9280F · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.