- Date
- September 6, 2024, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Forks, ND
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N896JRobinson Helicopter R44
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-hover: Loss of control in flight
- 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
- FAA report
- 20240906011949A
- Case key
- 195081
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 student pilot’s failure to maintain helicopter control which resulted in impact with the ground. Contributing to the outcome was the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action.
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 flight instructor reported that she was teaching her student to hover as part of a flight lesson. She transferred the flight controls to her student but continued to monitor the cyclic, collective, and tail rotor controls. The helicopter drifted aft and to the right while pitching nose up, as the student increased aft cyclic. The flight instructor attempted to correct by increasing forward cyclic but the tail struck the ground. The flight instructor stated that the helicopter began to violently vibrate, and she heard a grinding noise. As she lowered the collective, the helicopter impacted the ground, and the right skid broke off. The helicopter rolled over and came to rest on its right side, sustaining substantial damage to the main rotor system, tail boom, and tail rotor system. The flight instructor reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N896J
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R44
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 30086
- Built
- 2022
- Airframe hours
- 1,191.8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-FIB5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- University Of North Dakota
- Registered owner
- University Of North Dakota
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 29, 2024
- Departed
- GFK · Grand Forks, ND
- Destination
- GFK · Grand Forks, ND
- Airport
- GFK · Grand Forks International Airport
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, 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
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 454.9 total · 49.4 in this make and model · 315.8 as pilot in command · 28.3 in the last 90 days · 5.9 in the last 30 days · 1.2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 19
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3.9 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- GFK
- METAR
- 061530Z AUTO 01009KT 10SM FEW060 16/10 A3031 RMK T01600100
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 10, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.