- Date
- November 15, 2023, 19:30 local (Nov 16, 2023, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chesterfield, VA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N26VABell 407
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20231115019969A
- Case key
- 193413
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
A hard landing, which resulted in a main rotor strike of the left vertical stablizer.
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 night training flight was conducted using night vision goggles, and a crew change was conducted while helicopter continued to operate. The maneuvers conducted included hovering, straight-in and 180° autorotations to touchdown, hydraulics off flight, and stuck-pedal flight to touchdown. The flight instructor and the two pilots described the maneuvers as smooth and controlled with no hard landings. A post-flight inspection revealed substantial damage to the left vertical stabilizer, and “rub marks and scratches” on the underside of each main rotor blade consistent with main rotor contact. A main rotor strike of the vertical fin likely occurred during a hard landing at the termination of an autoration, but the investigation was unable to determine the specific training event during which the main rotor strike occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26VA
- Reported as
- Bell 407
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 53688
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 4,610
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce 250-C47B, 600 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · November 2, 2023 · 16 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FCI · Richmond Exec/Chesterfield County, runway Taxiway A, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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 · 3
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 20, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 8,700 total · 5,605 in this make and model · 6,757 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 13, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 862 total · 307 in this make and model · 751 as pilot in command
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 24, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 8,600 total · 690 in this make and model · 6,400 as pilot in command · 180 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Observed at
- FCI
- METAR
- KFCI 152356Z AUTO 00000KT CLR 08/03 RMK AO2 SLPNO T00780028 10150 20072 PWINO $=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 27, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.0 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.