Hughes 269A N8827F

Summary

On 14 December 2021 at about 17:00 local time, a Hughes 269A registered N8827F was involved in an accident near Crowley, Texas, 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

14 December 2021 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Crowley, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.5422, -97.3917

Aircraft

Hughes 269A

Registration

N8827F

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1963

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA077

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s encounter with a loss of tail rotor effectiveness during hover, and the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action that resulted in an emergency landing and impact with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that the student pilot was receiving flight instruction in preparation for a helicopter hover endorsement. The flight instructor and student pilot planned to practice hovers with pedal turns to experience wind effect from varying directions. The winds at the time were about 12 kts from the south. While in a hover and making a turn to the northeast, the wind increased, and the helicopter quickly climbed to 75 feet agl. The flight instructor told the student pilot to position the helicopter into the wind and descend. As the student applied left pedal input, the instructor noticed the helicopter started to rotate toward the right. The instructor immediately took the flight controls and continued to apply full left pedal input while “slightly” lowering the collective and using the cyclic to move the helicopter into undisturbed air. The flight instructor reported that he suspected a loss of tail rotor effectiveness and performed a hovering autorotation to land on a field. The helicopter impacted the terrain upright. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor blades and fuselage. A postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.