- Date
- March 22, 2014, 20:00 local (Mar 23, 2014, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Menard, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N44MDRobinson R44 - II
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Adminstration
- FAA report
- 20140322004959A
- Case key
- 89058
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 recovery from a practice autorotation, which resulted in an improper touchdown attitude and collision with terrain.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was performing a recovery from a practice autorotation when the helicopter's tail struck the ground, and the helicopter pitched forward. The main rotor blades cut through the tail then struck the ground, and the helicopter rolled over onto its right side. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction or failure with the helicopter.
Factual narrative
On March 22, 2014, at 2000 central daylight time, a Robinson Helicopter Company R44 II, N44MD, impacted terrain during recovery from a simulated autorotation at the pilot's helipad near Menard, Texas. The helicopter sustained substantial damage that included damage to the firewall, tail boom, and main rotor. The commercial pilot was uninjured. The helicopter was registered to Rancho Bonito Livestock and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The local flight was not operating on a flight plan and departed from Menard, Texas at time unknown. The pilot stated that he was practicing autorotations at his ranch when the helicopter tail struck the ground while he was adding power and performing a recovery. The helicopter pitched forward from the tail strike. The main rotor blades struck the ground after they had cut through the tail, and the helicopter rolled over onto its right side. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction/failure with the helicopter.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44MD
- Reported as
- Robinson R44 - II (II)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 11967
- Built
- 2007
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5, 245 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Rancho Bonito Livestock
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 23, 2013
- Departed
- Menard, TX
- Destination
- Menard, TX
- Airport
- PVT · Private
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 17, 2012
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 6,335 total · 348 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 7, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.