- Date
- May 10, 2024, 15:25 local (20:25 UTC)
- Place
- Crestview, FL · East of the airport near the wind sock
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N969VSHughes 369
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- 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
- 20240510005569A
- Case key
- 194239
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’s improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing and the main rotor blades contacting the tail boom.
Findings · 2
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
On the day of the accident, the pilot had been practicing autorotations. The first was a power-on autorotation to the ground, followed by two hovering autorotations, all of which were uneventful. The pilot then briefed and set up for a power off autorotation to the ground. The entry began at 600 ft above ground level (agl) and the glide was normal. He set up a 70-knot glide speed and added collective to keep the rotor at 480 rpm. The helicopter was heavy with fuel and the added pilot-rated passenger, so the decent was faster than anticipated. The pilot reported that at 40 ft agl, he accomplished an “auto-rotative flare attitude” and that the “flare was not aggressive enough for the weight,” and as a result, he held the flare longer than usual. The ground speed bled off, but the leveling of the helicopter was not accomplished in a timely manner. The tail skid contacted the ground hard and the main rotor blades flexed down resulting in contact with the tail boom and the fuselage behind the rotor head. The helicopter’s tailboom and main rotor blades were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanic malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N969VS
- Reported as
- Hughes 369 (D)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1100833D
- Built
- 1980
- Airframe hours
- 17,976.8
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Vertol Systems Co Inc
- Registered owner
- Vertol Systems Co Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 4, 2023 · 14.2 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CEW · Bob Sikes
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B
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
- Pilot
- Age
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 20, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 9,719 total · 219 in this make and model · 8,026 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 25, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 10,790 total · 73 in this make and model · 8,628 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- CEW
- METAR
- KCEW 102053Z AUTO 23005KT 10SM SCT019 BKN024 BKN029 27/22 A2985 RMK AO2 SLP105 60000 T02670217 58011
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 21, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.7 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.