McDonnell Douglas 369E N911PH

Summary

On 2 December 2021 at about 18:58 local time, a McDonnell Douglas 369E registered N911PH, operated by St Louis County Police Department, was involved in an accident near St. Louis, Missouri, 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

2 December 2021 at 18:58

Classification

Accident

Location

St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

Spirit of St Louis Airport (SUS)

Coordinates

38.6621, -90.6521

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas 369E

Registration

N911PH

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1987

Engines

1

Operator

St Louis County Police Department

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA063

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to apply power during the recovery procedure for the practice autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he intended to perform a straight-in autorotation that would terminate with a power on recovery procedure over the runway. The autorotation was performed without incident; however, the pilot did not advance the engine power in time for the recovery. The helicopter impacted the runway hard and came to rest upright on the skids. During the impact sequence, the main rotor blades contacted and severed the tail boom, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.