- Date
- April 27, 1994, 10:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Springfield, MO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N46DHBell 47G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940427009329A
- Case key
- 9513
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-in-command misjudging the autorotation and improper use of collective.
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-in-command initiated a practice autorotation for a flight instructor student during a low level (90 foot AGL) agricultural turn. During the flare to landing, collective was applied early, rotor RPM decayed and the helicopter landed with a high rate of descent. The helicopter bounced into the air and pitched nose down. Both pilots applied aft cyclic, resulting in rotor blade to fuselage contact, severing the tail boom.
Factual narrative
On April 27, 1994, at 1015 central daylight time, a Bell 47G helicopter, N46DH, operated as a training aircraft by C. R. Hill of Springfield, Missouri, impacted the ground during a practice autorotation at Air Park South, Springfield, Missouri, and was substantially damaged. The Designated Pilot Examiner/flight instructor and flight instructor student were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 91 as a flight instructor training flight.
The practice autorotation was initiated during a practice low level agricultural application turn. According to the pilot, collective input to cushion the landing was made too early, main rotor rpm decayed and the helicopter landed with a high descent rate. Upon touchdown, the helicopter bounced and pitched nose down. The pilot in command reported that the combined aft cyclic input by both pilots and blade flexing resulted in rotor blade to fuselage contact, severing the tail boom.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N46DH
- Reported as
- Bell 47G
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- VH-2
- Airframe hours
- 6,745
- Engine
- Franklin V6-335, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Carlie R. Hill, doing business as Dick Hill
- Registered owner
- Carlie R. Hill
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 1994 · 55 hours before
- Airport
- 2K2 · Air Park South, runway 35, 2,528 × 39 ft, asphalt
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
- 46
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 10,000 in this make and model · 19,000 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SGF, 12 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.