- Date
- June 25, 2025, 09:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- San Luis, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N3951AAmerican Eurocopter AS350B3
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 200396
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 receiving instruction’s failure to properly recover the helicopter during an autorotative landing and the instructor pilot’s failure to intervene, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 6
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
According to the operator, the instructor and pilot receiving instruction were conducting hover autorotation training over cement that was visually obstructed by a hard packed dirt surface. On the third autorotation, the pilot under instruction established a hover at a slightly higher altitude than the previous two practice iterations. During recovery, the pilot receiving instruction executed the appropriate procedures, but the helicopter began to settle faster than expected and he was unable to sufficiently reduce the rate of descent. Subsequently, the helicopter landed hard and resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom. The operator reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3951A
- Reported as
- American Eurocopter AS350B3
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 4993
- Built
- 2010
- Airframe hours
- 5,969.2
- Engine
- Safran Arriel 2B1, 847 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Public use
- Operator
- US Department Of Homeland Security
- Registered owner
- US Department Of Homeland Security
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 6, 2025
- Departed
- NYL · Yuma, AZ
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- 44A · Rollie Airfield, runway 17/35, 2,800 × 60 ft, gravel
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, ADS-B
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 6, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,895 total · 1,420 in this make and model · 2,768 as pilot in command · 168 in the last 90 days · 62 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Military
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 15, 2025
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,206 total · 192 in this make and model · 251 as pilot in command · 129 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- KNYL, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KNYL 251657Z VRB03KT 10SM CLR 32/04 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP117 T03220044 $
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 9, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 MB in all.