Bell OH-58A+ N7UT

Summary

On 11 February 2000 at about 21:04 local time, a Bell OH-58A+ registered N7UT was involved in an accident near Woods Cross, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 February 2000 at 21:04

Classification

Accident

Location

Woods Cross, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Skypark (BTF)

Coordinates

40.8892, -111.9308

Aircraft

Bell OH-58A+

Registration

N7UT

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00GA050

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to roll throttle back on (return the power to the normal operating range) during an attempted power recovery from an autorotation, and his subsequent failure to maintain aircraft control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the helicopter was to perform an autorotation during a maintenance flight to perform a functional check of the free-wheeling unit. A witness observed the helicopter at 100 to 150 feet agl, and he said that the main rotor blades 'stopped' and the aircraft started a slow spiral to the left, nose down. He further said that the helicopter was shaking violently, and its skids were flexing in and out. Postcrash examination revealed that the fuel control pointer, on the fuel control, was slightly above flight idle. Both cockpit throttles were observed positioned in slightly above the flight idle position. The helicopter's power analyzer and recorder (PAR) documented that at the time of impact, the engine's torque (TRQ) was at 13.5% and the main rotor speed (NR) was at 65.8%. The procedure for a power recovery from an autorotation is to smoothly roll throttle back on, confirm rotor and N2 needles are joined and in normal operating range, and simultaneously pull up collective while applying left pedal.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.