- Date
- May 27, 1982, 15:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Amarillo, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N277SPHughes 500D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 27, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820527020419A
- Case key
- 69760
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 reported that he was practicing autorotations. When he added power to recover from his eighth autorotation, he experienced compressor stalls in the engine and a complete loss of power at about 20 ft AGL. The helicopter settled and made a hard touchdown. During touchdown, the main rotor blades flexed downward and chopped off the tail boom. The engine was transported to a test cell where it was run up in an "as is" condition. It operated normally with a power output of 4.29% above the minimum required. No discrepancies were found except there was a moderate air leak from the anti-ice valve. The valve was replaced and the engine then produced 5.95% above the minimum required power. The engine was then completely disassembled and inspected and all parts were found to be in satisfactory condition. The density altitude at the time of the accident was about 5100 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N277SP
- Reported as
- Hughes 500D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0461
- Airframe hours
- 2,393
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 375 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Southwestern Public Service Co
- Registered owner
- Williams Steel And Hardware Co
- Departed
- Amarillo, TX
- Destination
- Amarillo, TX
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 3,883 total · 485 in this make and model · 3,200 as pilot in command · 172 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 205° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 158 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AMA, 8 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.
Other investigations on N277SP · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.