- Date
- March 27, 1991, 08:15 local (13:15 UTC)
- Place
- Columbia, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5FCHughes 369HS
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910327007719A
- Case key
- 11666
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
The pilot's inadequate visual lookout, which resulted in his failure to see-and-avoid the obstruction (fence post).
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 pilot reported he was landing the aircraft in a clearing on telephone company right of way property in order to communicate with the company's ground personnel. At an altitude of about 100 feet, after turning his craft into the wind and maneuvering to avoid some loose ground wires, he descended for a landing. At about 10 feet above the ground, he heard a loud bang, the aircraft shuddered violently, but he did not lose pedal control. He executed a hover auto rotation, landed the aircraft and shut down the engine. After exiting the aircraft, the pilot discovered the tail rotor and fins had struck a 2 inch metal fence post that was 7 feet tall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5FC
- Reported as
- Hughes 369HS
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0787S
- Airframe hours
- 3,612
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20, 400 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Omni Flight Helicopters
- Registered owner
- Fleetwind International
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 8, 1991 · 41 hours before
- Departed
- MTN · Baltimore, MD
- Destination
- LYH · Lynchburg, VA
- 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,531 total · 434 in this make and model · 8,500 as pilot in command · 151 in the last 90 days · 48 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 7 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.