- Date
- November 8, 2023, 12:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Claremore, OK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N522TFHelicopteres Guimbal Cabri G2
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20231108019439A
- Case key
- 193547
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 flight instructor’s failure to maintain sufficient rotor speed during a practice autorotation which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 3
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 student pilot and flight instructor initiated a 90° practice autorotation. As the helicopter descended, the flight instructor took control of the helicopter to cushion the landing after the student pilot flared too high. During the attempted recovery, sufficient rotor speed was not maintained, and the helicopter experienced a hard landing. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom. Both the student pilot and the flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N522TF
- Reported as
- Helicopteres Guimbal Cabri G2
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1314
- Built
- 2022
- Airframe hours
- 346
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-J2A, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Truflight Helicopter Academy LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 11, 2023
- Departed
- O38 · Owasso, OK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- OK15 · Avian Country Estates Airport, runway 17, 2,600 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 14, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total · 350 in this make and model · 600 as pilot in command · 182 in the last 90 days · 68 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 30, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 161 total · 39 in this make and model · 46 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 16 knots
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- METAR
- GCM 081835Z AUTO 22016KTS 10SM CLR 29/15 A2970
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 19, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.7 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.