- Date
- September 16, 1995, 18:30 local (Sep 17, 1995, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bonners Ferry, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8180HHiller UH-12A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 27, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950916029899A
- Case key
- 42251
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 flight instructor's misjudging his flare during a simulated autorotation.
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 demonstration auto-rotation landing, the flight instructor misjudged his elevation above the ground in the flare and landed hard, severing the rotorcraft's tailboom.
Factual narrative
On September 16, 1995, approximately 1830 hours Pacific daylight time, a Hiller UH-12A, N8180H, being flown by a commercial flight instructor, was substantially damaged during a hard landing following an auto-rotation approximately six miles north northwest of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was instructional, was to have been operated under 14CFR91, and originated from the Boundary County Airport, Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
The instructor pilot reported that he was demonstrating a practice auto-rotation to the owner/student pilot when the aircraft impacted the ground and the left skid collapsed. He reported that during the maneuver he "began to raise collective pitch to cushion the landing, (and) it was at this point in the autorotation that I made contact with the ground. I misjudged my elevation by approximately 5 to 10 feet."
The main rotor blade severed the tail boom during the ground impact. The instructor pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8180H
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 180
- Engine
- Franklin 6V350B, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Davis, Robert, L.
- Registered owner
- Wilderness Helicopters, Ltd.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 21, 1995 · 26 hours before
- Departed
- 65S · ID
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,774 total · 1,107 in this make and model · 1,659 as pilot in command · 296 in the last 90 days · 42 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °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 N8180H · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.