- Date
- October 10, 1986, 08:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Seattle, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N58239Hughes 500-D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 10, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19861010048699A
- Case key
- 40552
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
During a practice autorotation a loss of power occurred. The pilot attempted engine recovery but was unable to resulting in a hard landing in which the main rotor blade flexed, severing the tail boom. The throttle linkage on the pilots side was found to have been out of adjustment, causing the engine power to fall below idle.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N58239
- Reported as
- Hughes 500-D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1280392D
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 375 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- The Wright Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BFI · Seattle, WA
- Airport
- BFI · Boeing Field, runway 31L, 10,000 × 200 ft, asphalt
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
- 36
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,500 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 4,200 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Temperature
- 61 °F
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 N58239 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.