Hughes 269B N9398F

Summary

On 14 July 1997 at about 22:00 local time, a Hughes 269B registered N9398F was involved in an accident near Paducah, Kentucky, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 July 1997 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Paducah, Kentucky, United States

Coordinates

37.0106, -88.5802

Aircraft

Hughes 269B

Registration

N9398F

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC97LA138

2 people had minor injuries.

The failure of maintenance personnel to identify and correct the worn holes on the lower fuselage fairing and the failure of the flight instructor to maintain main rotor RPM during the autorotative landing. A contributing factor was the flight instructor's lack of recent experience in performing autorotations to a landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot had departed from a confined area and were climbing through about 200 feet AGL, at 60 knots, when the engine lost power. The flight instructor took control of the helicopter and performed an autorotation to an open field. Both pilots reported the touchdown was harder than expected during which the right skid collapsed. The flight instructor had performed autorotations to a power recovery, but could not remember the last time he had performed a touchdown autorotation. The manufacturer reported that the blades had flapping damage, and indicated no significant rotation at impact. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the lower fuselage fairing had separated from the fuselage. After separation, the wire inside of the intake hose that supplied air to the fuel control unit pulled out and the intake hose collapsed into the engine air intake, and blocked it. The attachment holes on the lower fuselage fairing were found to be elongated.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.