Hughes 269C N7480F

Summary

On 13 January 2021 at about 20:50 local time, a Hughes 269C registered N7480F, operated by Trike Industries LLC, was involved in an accident near Spanish Fork, Utah, 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

13 January 2021 at 20:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Spanish Fork, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Spanish Fork Muni/Woodhouse Fl (SPK)

Coordinates

40.1308, -111.6879

Aircraft

Hughes 269C

Registration

N7480F

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Trike Industries LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Spanish Fork → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA086

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power during a practice autorotation for an undetermined reason.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot receiving instruction was preparing for his upcoming checkride for a rotorcraft certificate. About 50 minutes into the flight, the flight instructor announced a simulated engine failure, and the pilot receiving instruction reduced throttle, lowered collective, and entered an autorotation. When the helicopter approached 500 ft above ground level (agl) and the instructor advised the pilot to recover, they realized that the engine had stopped producing power. The instructor took control of the helicopter about 200 ft agl and started to flare about 30 ft agl. He raised collective to cushion the landing, but the helicopter still had forward airspeed when it touched down on the soft ground, which resulted in a noseover. Postaccident examination of the helicopter did not reveal any preimpact mechanical anomalies with the airframe or the engine. An engine run showed that with the throttle at the idle detent, the engine cut out intermittently, and the engine idle speed was about 500 rpm lower than the minimum idle speed given in the Pilot’s Operating Manual (POH) for the helicopter. However, the engine power could be advanced from idle to higher speeds, and the engine never lost power as occurred during the accident flight. The flight instructor reported that the pilot receiving instruction would rapidly reduce throttle for practice autorotations, and the POH warned against rapid throttle reduction as it could result in a sudden stoppage of the engine; however, given that the pilot receiving instruction had been following this practice throughout the flight and during previous flights without issue, it is unlikely his rapid throttle reduction led to the loss of power. The investigation was unable to determine the reason for the loss of engine power. The pilot receiving instruction had started his recovery from about 500 ft agl, which required the instructor to re-establish the autorotation following the loss of power. Although the instructor was successful in re-establishing autorotation, he was unable to fully arrest the helicopter’s forward motion before touchdown.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.