- Date
- July 1, 1991, 12:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Blakely, GA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N11017Hughes 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910701030599A
- Case key
- 8329
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Loss of engine power for an undetermined reason, and failure of the instructor pilot (CFI) to follow procedures and maintain rotor RPM.
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
The flt was for the purpose of x-country training. The flt instructor (CFI) closed the throttle at an alt of abt 900' AGL to simulate an eng failure. Drg a subsequent autorotation, eng RPM was not maintd at 2500 as rcmdd by the plt's operg handbook (POH). The student allowed the rotor RPM to deteriorate drg an atmtd pwr on recovery at abt 700' AGL as he did not realize the eng had stopped running. The CFI atmtd to restart the eng after taking ctl of the helicopter at abt 700' AGL. The student rprtd the rotor RPM remained low drg the dscnt. Subsequently, the helicopter impacted in a large fld. The student stated that the helicopter felt as if it just dropped the last few ft of the autorotation. No reason was verified for the loss of eng pwr. The POH stated that RPM should have been maintd drg practice autorotations & that eng restarts should not be atmtd below 2000' AGL.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11017
- Reported as
- Hughes 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 900964
- Airframe hours
- 3,844
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight Safety International
- Registered owner
- Flight Safety International
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 27, 1991 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- ABY · Albany, GA
- Destination
- DHN · Dothan, AL
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 32
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,319 total · 175 in this make and model · 1,274 as pilot in command · 95 in the last 90 days · 49 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABY, 25 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.