- Date
- October 29, 2005, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Titusville, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1567CSchweizer 269C-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Orlando, Florida
- FAA report
- 20051029025739A
- Case key
- 62762
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 improper flare during a practice autorotative landing, which resulted in a hard landing.
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 helicopter landed hard during a practice autorotation. According to the pilot the accident practice autorotation was planned to the ground, and it was uneventful until he executed the flare. He stated that as he flared the helicopter, maintained the flare to get "the sink feeling", then came to a level attitude, and attempted to cushion the set-down, the helicopter "fell right through." He said the helicopter impacted the ground hard, incurring damage, because the sink rate was too great. According to the pilot, prior to the accident, there were no mechanical failures and malfunctions to the helicopter or any of its systems.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 2005, about 1115 eastern standard time, a Schweizer 269C-1, N1567C, registered to and operated by Helicopter Adventures, Inc., as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, impacted the ground hard, during a practice autorotation, at Space Coast Regional Airport, Titusville, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The commercial-rated pilot and flight examiner were not injured, and the helicopter incurred substantial damage. The flight originated from Titusville, Florida, the same day, about 1030.
The pilot stated he was receiving his CFI checkride with a DPE. He further stated that having previously completed a practice autorotation to a power recovery, the accident practice autorotation was planned to the ground, and it was uneventful until he executed the flare. He stated that as he flared the helicopter, maintained the flare to get "the sink feeling", then came to a level attitude, and attempted to cushion the set-down, the helicopter "fell right through." He said the helicopter impacted the ground hard, incurring damage, because the sink rate was too great. According to the pilot, prior to the accident, there were no mechanical failures and malfunctions to the helicopter or any of its systems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1567C
- Reported as
- Schweizer 269C-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0203
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360 61A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TIX · Titusville, FL
- Destination
- TIX
- Airport
- KTIX · Space Coast Regional
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
- 29
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 250 total · 176 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Temperature
- 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- TIX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.