Schweizer 269C-1 N2074B

Summary

On 6 October 2010 at about 17:18 local time, a Schweizer 269C-1 registered N2074B, 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

6 October 2010 at 17:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Titusville, Florida, United States

Coordinates

28.5147, -80.7992

Aircraft

Schweizer 269C-1

Registration

N2074B

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Bristow Academy Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Titusville → Titusville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11CA012

Nobody was injured.

An inadvertent in-flight collision with a bird.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he was maneuvering the helicopter about 1,000 feet above ground level when he noticed a large bird located to the right of his flight path. As the bird started to circle toward the helicopter, the pilot attempted to avoid it by making a sharp left turn. When the helicopter was in a steep left bank, the pilot felt a "thump" in the airframe and cyclic control. The cyclic became sluggish and less responsive than normal. The pilot initiated a controlled descent and landed the helicopter in the median of a highway. An examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the main rotor blades required replacement. The pilot reported that prior to the bird impacting the helicopter, there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.