Hughes 369A N369V

Summary

On 19 May 2006 at about 20:00 local time, a Hughes 369A registered N369V was involved in an accident near Banks, Oregon, United States. 2 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

19 May 2006 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Banks, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Skyport (4S4)

Coordinates

45.5828, -123.0528

Aircraft

Hughes 369A

Registration

N369V

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hillsboro → Banks

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA06CA102

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm while performing a simulated autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the pilot's incorrect interpretation of the examiner's instruction to add power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the practical test for a flight instructor certificate, the pilot was asked by the examiner to perform a 180 degree autorotation with a power recovery. He entered the autorotation, executed the 180 degree turn, and initiated the flare at approximately 50 feet agl. He stated that he "failed to roll on enough throttle simultaneously with the flare as the rotor RPM started to decay." He further stated that the examiner told him, "power, power, power," which he interpreted as meaning pull up on the collective. The addition of pitch further decayed the rotor RPM. The helicopter made "a firm level landing," and the main rotor contacted and severed the tail boom. The pilot explained that in his training, he had learned to associate the term "power" with "pull power on the collective" and the term "roll on" with "roll on the throttle." When the examiner told him, "power, power, power," he reacted by applying collective, but the examiner was wanting him to add power by rolling on the throttle. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented by maintaining rotor RPM during the power recovery and "proper understanding of commands between DPE [examiner] and PIC."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.