Schweizer 269C-1 N1542D

Summary

On 18 August 2010 at about 17:45 local time, a Schweizer 269C-1 registered N1542D, operated by Bristow Academy Inc, was involved in an accident near Titusville, Florida, 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

18 August 2010 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Titusville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Space Coast Regional Airport (KTIX)

Coordinates

28.4592, -80.8631

Aircraft

Schweizer 269C-1

Registration

N1542D

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Bristow Academy Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Titusville → Titusville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10CA432

Nobody was injured.

The instructor's delayed remedial action, which resulted in a loss of rotor rpm and a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that during the helicopter instructional flight, hovering, straight-ahead, and 180-degree-turn autorotations were performed. The flight instructor's remedial actions typically included adjustment of pitch attitude to maintain the target airspeed, or collective adjustment to keep the rotor rpm in the normal operating range. During an autorotation with turn initiated by the student, the flight instructor took control of the helicopter but allowed the rotor rpm to decay below the lower limit. He adjusted collective and throttle, and initiated a decelerative flare to build rotor rpm, but the rotor rpm continued its decay. The flight instructor was unable to arrest the helicopter's descent, and the helicopter impacted the ground on the back of the skids, pitched forward and rolled over, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, tailboom, and both the main and tail rotor systems. No preexisting mechanical anomalies were noted with the helicopter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.