# NTSB WPR25LA101: Hughes OH-6A, N4191T, Santa Teresa, NM, February 22, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report
- Date: February 22, 2025, 16:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place: Santa Teresa, NM
- Coordinates: 31.874351, -106.69204
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.8744&lon=-106.6920&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Emergency descent](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/600) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Autorotation: Loss of control in flight](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 2 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report September 30, 2026
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Western Pacific Region
- Parties: FAA FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 199744
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR25LA101
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/199744/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199744
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR25LA101

## Probable cause

The flight instructor's failure to maintain helicopter control during a practice autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing and structural damage to the tail boom and subsequent failure of the tail rotor drive system.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Hughes OH-6A, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=4470905), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md)
- [Performance/control parameters](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062000): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Hughes OH-6A, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062000/cases.md?model=4470905), [All aircraft, 1,269 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062000/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Autorotation: Loss of control in flight](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240) (defining event); cases with it: [Hughes OH-6A, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence.md?model=4470905), [All aircraft, 5,002 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence.md)
- [Autorotation: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092); cases with it: [Hughes OH-6A, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=4470905), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md)
- [Taxi-from runway: Aircraft structural failure](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337); cases with it: [Hughes OH-6A, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337/sequence.md?model=4470905), [All aircraft, 290 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/337/sequence.md)

## Analysis

After the pilot undergoing instruction completed a series of practice maneuvers, the flight instructor assumed the controls and initiated a hover taxi to return the helicopter to the ramp. During the hover taxi, the helicopter shuddered and yawed abruptly to the right. Despite the instructor's reduction of throttle and collective, the yaw developed into an uncontrolled spin, and the helicopter impacted terrain. The pilot undergoing instruction reported that the final maneuver the pilot had performed before the hover taxi was a full-down autorotation. She reported that, during the maneuver’s landing flare, the helicopter struck the ground hard enough that she believed the tail stinger contacted the ground. The pilots paused to assess the helicopter, and it appeared undamaged. She reported that because the instructor remained concerned, they elected to end the training flight and return for further inspection of the helicopter. Although the instructor did not characterize the landing as hard, examination of the helicopter revealed upward bending and buckling of the lower vertical stabilizer and stinger, upward deformation of the tail boom, and rotational scoring on the tail rotor drive shaft consistent with contact with the tail rotor pitch control rod during a hard landing. These findings are consistent with a preaccident tail strike that compromised the structural integrity of the tail boom and damaged the tail rotor drive system. The structure ultimately failed as the helicopter was being taxied.

## Factual narrative

On February 22, 2025, about 1620, a Hughes OH-6A helicopter, N4191T, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The flight instructor and pilot undergoing instruction were not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor had flown the helicopter with its owner earlier that day and reported that the flight was uneventful. The accident flight was intended as refresher training for the pilot undergoing instruction rather than a formal flight review. According to the instructor, they performed a series of practice maneuvers for about 30 minutes. After completing the maneuvers, he assumed the flight controls and initiated a hover taxi from the end of runway 28 to the helicopter pad, located about 500 ft to the southwest. About midway through the hover taxi, the occupants felt a shudder in the airframe, and the helicopter immediately yawed to the right. The flight instructor reduced the throttle to idle and lowered the collective. The yaw developed into a spin, and the helicopter struck terrain on the slope of a gravel pit. The helicopter came to rest upright on a southwest heading, with the tail boom severed just aft of the engine. The tail rotor assembly, including the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, was located about 100 ft behind the helicopter (figure 1). Figure 1 – Helicopter at accident site (photo provided by the FAA) The pilot undergoing instruction provided a similar statement but reported that during the final maneuver, the instructor demonstrated a full-down autorotation to the runway 28 run-up area. During the landing flare, the helicopter struck the ground hard enough that she believed the tail stinger contacted the ground. The pilots paused to assess the helicopter, and it appeared undamaged. She reported that because the instructor remained concerned, they elected to terminate the training flight and return for further inspection of the helicopter. In a subsequent statement, the instructor reiterated that the helicopter did not experience a hard landing. Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies with the engine, drivetrain, or flight control system that would have precluded normal operation. The separated tail boom components exhibited twisting and tearing damage consistent with main rotor contact. No evidence of corrosion or preexisting fatigue was observed. Figure 2 – Helicopter damage The lower vertical stabilizer and stinger assembly exhibited upward and aft bending and buckling damage, and the tail boom remnants exhibited a pronounced upward bend at the fuselage attachment point (figure 2). Within the tail boom, the tail rotor drive shaft exhibited rotational scoring consistent with contact between the drive shaft and the tail rotor pitch control rod (figure 3). Figure 3 – Tail rotor drive shaft rotational scoring

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N4191T](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4191T), registered now, S/N 67-16164, built 1968 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: HUGHES OH-6A
- Registry model: [Hughes OH-6A](https://openairdocs.org/model/hughes-oh-6a) (registry code 4470905) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG](https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (registry code 99999) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Helicopter
- Serial number: 67-16164
- Year built: 1968
- Airframe hours: 4502
- Engines: Rolls Royce T63A-700 420 horsepower turbo shaft
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Instructional, Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, December 21, 2024, 10 hours before
- Destination: Same as departure
- Airport: DNA, Dona Ana County Intl Jetport
- Equipment: Handheld GPS

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Flight instructor; age 48; injuries: none; commercial, private, flight instructor; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: helicopter; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review April 16, 2024; seat: left; restraint: 4-point; flight hours: 9,326 total, 5,000 in this make and model, 9,105 as pilot in command, 160 in the last 90 days, 26 in the last 30 days
- Pilot; age 32; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; seat: right; restraint: 4-point; flight hours: 1,000 total, 200 in this make and model

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 310° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 61 °F, dew point 10 °F
- Altimeter: 30.19 inHg
- Observed at: KDNA, 1 nm away
- METAR: METAR KDNA 222215Z AUTO 31003KT 10SM CLR 16/M12 A3019 RMK AO2=

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20250222002299A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250222002299A), Feb 22, 2025: Hughes OH-6A, Santa Teresa, NM, Substantial damage. On February 22, 2025, at or around 16:20 MST, a Hughes OH-6 tail rotor struck the tail boom and crashed (accident) at Dona ana county municipal airport (dna),…

## Docket (6 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 30, 2026, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199744. 10.2 MB in all.

- Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 9 pages, 2.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20730179&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=r_6120_1-WPR25LA101_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Instructor and pilot mor (item 2, PDF, 5 pages, 254 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20731148&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=r_Instructor%20and%20Pilot%20MOR_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Examination report (item 3, PDF, 15 pages, 15 photos, 3.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20730721&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=FINAL%20Factual%20Exam%20Report%20-%20WPR25LA101-Rel.pdf
- Maintenance logbook excerpts (item 4, PDF, 2 pages, 4.1 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20730314&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=r_Maint%20Log%20Excerpts_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Statement of party representatives to NTSB investigation (item 5, PDF, 1 page, 298 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20730189&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=r_Party-Representative%20Form-WPR25LA101%20MJ_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Release of aircraft wreckage, NTSB form 6120.15 (item 6, PDF, 1 page, 145 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20730344&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=r_Release-of-Wreckage-WPR25LA101_Redacted-Rel.pdf

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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