Hughes 269A N8911F

Summary

On 9 March 2023 at about 22:00 local time, a Hughes 269A registered N8911F, operated by A & J Aviation Services LLC., 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

9 March 2023 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Titusville, Florida, United States

Coordinates

28.5093, -80.7930

Aircraft

Hughes 269A

Registration

N8911F

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1963

Engines

1

Operator

A & J Aviation Services LLC.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Titusville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA146

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate main rotor RPM during an autorotation which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent rotor blade strike of the tail boom.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that he was demonstrating a 180° autorotation for his passenger into an open field off airport grounds. Nearing the end of the maneuver, prior to touchdown, he failed to recover engine power in a timely manner which resulted in the rapid decay of the rotor rpm at low altitude; this resulted in a hard landing that subsequently caused the main rotor blades to make contact with the tail boom and severed the tail rotor driveshaft. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and the main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no pre accident mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.