Hughes 369D N505ST

Summary

On 4 September 2004 at about 02:30 local time, a Hughes 369D registered N505ST, operated by Darren Kronberger, was involved in an accident near Cottage Grove, Oregon, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 September 2004 at 02:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Cottage Grove, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

43.7217, -123.1050

Aircraft

Hughes 369D

Registration

N505ST

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Darren Kronberger

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Creswell → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA04LA181

Nobody was injured.

In-flight loss of engine power during cruise for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

At 1,000 feet AGL the pilot said the engine had a sudden loss of power and the collective became very heavy. After the pilot initiated an autorotation, he looked down and observed a split in the rotor rpm and the N2 needle. The pilot then elected to proceed to a rock pit he observed and initiated an autorotation. At 60 knots and 30 feet AGL, and just as the pilot pulled back on the cyclic to slow down, the helicopter impacted the ground with its left skid. The helicopter subsequently rolled over on its left side, sustaining substantial damage as the main rotor blades severed the tail boom. A post accident examination of the helicopter failed to reveal any anomalies which would have prevented normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.