- Date
- September 22, 2020, 13:24 local (20:24 UTC)
- Place
- Chemehuevi Valley, CA · Desert
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N509CGMD Helicopter 369
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200922016829A
- Case key
- 102059
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 failure to maintain helicopter control during an approach with a gusting variable wind, which resulted in an impact with terrain.
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
The pilot reported that, he was decelerating the helicopter while on approach to the runway with a gusting variable wind when the helicopter unexpectedly yawed to the right. He applied full left anti-torque pedal input to no avail, so he applied forward cyclic to increase forward airspeed, but the helicopter continued to spin clockwise. He immediately reduced power to land, but the left skid struck a bush and the helicopter impacted terrain and rolled over, coming to rest on its left side. The fuselage and the tail boom were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N509CG
- Reported as
- MD Helicopter 369 (HS)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 840634S
- Built
- 1974
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce 250-C18, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HII · Lake Havasu City, AZ
- Destination
- 49X · Lake Havasu City, AZ
- Airport
- 49X · Chemehuevi Valley, runway 16, 5,000 × 75 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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 29, 2020
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 5,700 total · 7 in this make and model · 5,500 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 44 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- HII, 5 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 20, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 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.