- Date
- September 7, 1994, 11:24 local (16:24 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Forks, ND
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N61245Schweizer 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940907025909A
- Case key
- 9670
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's (CFI) delayed recovery from a practice autorotation. A factor associated with the accident was the student pilot's improper autorotation.
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 flight instructor (CFI) reported he and the student pilot were practicing simulated emergency autorotations to a power recovery. During the accident autorotation, the CFI said he adjusted the power to 3100 RPM and then told the student to recover. The CFI noticed that the helicopter's descent had not been arrested, and he joined the student on the controls. The CFI was attempting to autorotate when the helicopter landed hard. Postaccident inspection of the helicopter and its engine discovered no evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies.
Factual narrative
On September 7, 1994, about 1124 central daylight time, a Schweizer 269C helicopter, N61245, sustained substantial damage when it landed hard during a practice autorotation near Grand Forks, North Dakota. The certificated flight instructor and student pilot aboard reported no injuries. The local, instructional flight operated without flight plan in visual meteorological conditions.
The flight instructor reported he and the student had practiced several successful autorotations. The final, accident autorotation was to be with a power recovery. The instructor said he adjusted the throttle to 3100 RPM, and told the student to recover. When the rate of descent was not arrested, the instructor joined the student on the controls and attempted to autorotate just prior to ground collision.
Postaccident inspection of the helicopter discovered no evidence of preimpact mechanical anomaly. The helicopter's engine was started and accelerated without any observed deficiencies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N61245
- Reported as
- Schweizer 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- S1654
- Airframe hours
- 656
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-DIA, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- University Of North Dakota
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 14, 1994 · 73 hours before
- Departed
- GFK · NE
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 28
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,400 total · 310 in this make and model · 2,250 as pilot in command · 148 in the last 90 days · 63 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GFK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.