CHI00LA044

The pilot was performing a practice autorotation. He stated that he began the practice autorotation by '...lowering the collective all the way and reducing the throttle setting to a point where the engine RPM and rotor RPM needles split. I verified that the needles split, but something didn't feel normal.' The pilot elected to abandon the maneuver and added power to recover. The pilot stated: 'As best I can remember, the engine and rotor RPM needles had syncronized [sic] and were at approximately the right clock position on the tach face.' The pilot said that at this time he was '...becoming aware of an extremely high descent rate.' The pilot flight manual for the aircraft describes the procedure for practice autorotation as follows: 'Split the needles by lowering the collective while maintaining throttle setting. The throttle correlation will establish a high idle rpm (approximately 2000 rpm) which will aid in preventing the engine from loading up or stalling during recovery. No apparent preexisting anomalies were detected with respect to the aircraft or systems. The pilot listed no mechanical malfunction in his written report.

On December 13, 1999, at 1435 central standard time, a Hughes 269C, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage when it impacted the terrain following a practice autorotation about four miles south of the Salina Municipal Airport, Salina, Kansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot and his one passenger received serious injuries. The local flight originated from the Salina Municipal Airport about 1400.

In a written statement, the pilot said that he began the practice autorotation by "...lowering the collective all the way and reducing the throttle setting to a point where the engine RPM and rotor RPM needles split. I verified that the needles split, but something didn't feel normal." The pilot elected to abandon the maneuver and added power to recover. The pilot stated that "...the engine and rotor RPM needles had syncronized and were at approximately the right clock position on the tach face." The pilot said that at this time he was "...becoming aware of an extremely high descent rate." The pilot said that he started the maneuver at about 700 feet. The pilot stated, "just prior to impact, I applied full up collective and full aft cyclic."

The pilot flight manual for the aircraft decribes the procedure for practice autorotation as follows: "Split the needles by lowering the collective while maintaining throttle setting. The throttle correlation will establish a high idle rpm (approximately 2000 rpm) which will aid in preventing the engine from loading up or stalling during recovery. Conversely, when the collective is raised without increasing throttle, the correlation is such that only minor throttle adjustments will be required to perform a smooth recovery without exceeding 2700 rpm."

The Federal Aviation Administration performed a postaccident examination of the aircraft. No preexisting anomalies were detected with respect to the aircraft or systems. The pilot listed no mechanical malfunction in his written report.